LEGISLATION WOULD MAKE MANDATORY INSURANCE LAW PERMANENT By SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN

Legislation to make Illinois' mandatory insurance law permanent sailed over its final legislative hurdle recently and now awaits the Governor's signature. The measure, House Bill 1798, passed the Senate with no opposition after winning unananimous approval in the House.

The law, which took effect Jan. 1, 1990, is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. My proposal would permanently extend the law past Dec. 31, turn up the heat on previous violators and streamline enforcement.

The mandatory insurance law is one of the most significant consumer protection measures now on the books in Illinois. Because of it, a responsible, insured driver is far less likely to bear the expensive consequences of a run-in with an uninsured motorist.

The law requires all Illinois drivers to carry liability insurance. It now has broad-based support — from law enforcement, our state court system and throughout the insurance industry.

By every indicator, mandatory insurance has been a success in Illinois. Since the law took effect, we have cut the number of uninsured drivers by more than half, and collisions involving uninsured motorists have fallen steadily. At the same time, premiums in Illinois have gone up more slowly than in other states. In fact, the cost of insurance actually fell in some parts of the state last year.

Since the law's passage, Illinois' uninsured rate has dropped from 17 percent to about 7 percent. In other words, more than one million vehicle owners have obtained insurance. As a result, the number of reported collisions involving uninsured motorists has fallen from 70,284 in 1990 to 51,150 last year.

Based on recommendations of my Mandatory Insurance Advisory Board, the bill would create a mail-verification program specifically to make all known insurance violators prove they are maintaining insurance coverage. The sampling pool also would include anyone who receives court supervision.

Additionally, the measure would raise the reinstatement fee from $50 to $100, but end the plate suspension for first-time offenders as soon as they obtain insurance and pay all fines and fees. Repeat offenders would still face a four-month plate suspension.

The legislation also would streamline procedures for dismissing citations when insured drivers are ticketed for failing to carry "proof of insurance" cards. The proposal would allow the tickets to be dismissed without a court appearance when proof of insurance is submitted to a court-appointed officer.

Under current law, vehicle owners who fail to carry liability insurance face fines of $500 to $1,000 and a two-month license plate suspension. To have the suspension lifted, they must obtain insurance and pay court fines plus the $50 reinstatement fee.

The law is administered through a "two-track" enforcement system unique to Illinois. Motorists can be ticketed by police if they fail to carry proof of insurance at all times. In addition, the Secretary of State's office oversees a program requiring selected vehicle owners to verify through the mail that they have insurance.

During the first three years of enforcement, the courts handled 284,021 mandatory insurance cases. Of those, 166,662 resulted in convictions, while 117,359 resulted in court supervision.

During those years, the Secretary of State's office mailed more than 829,000 insurance verification notices, which resulted in more than 34,000 license plate suspensions.

The law requires all drivers to carry liability insurance at limits of $20,000 for the injury or death of one person; $40,000 for the injury or death of more than one person; and $15,000 for property damage.

Sponsors of HB 1798 included Reps. William J. Laurino (D-Chicago), Roger McAuliffe (R-Chicago), Miguel Santiago (D-Chicago), Margaret Parcells (R-Northbrook) and Ralph Capparelli (D-Chicago).

Senate sponsors were Sens. Robert Madigan (R-Lincoln), James DeLeo (D-Chicago), Walter Dudycz (R-Chicago), William O'Daniel (D-Mount Vernon) and Beverly Fawell (R-Glen Ellyn).

August 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11