MANDATORY INSURANCE: DRIVE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW By SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN

Deadbeats who continue to defy Illinois' Mandatory Insurance Law after being caught driving without insurance are being targeted in a new, get-tough enforcement program in the Secretary of State's office called "Drive on the Right Side of the Law." The crackdown greatly increases the likelihood of catching and punishing repeat offenders through the state's mail-in enforcement effort.

Under the mailing program, questionnaires are sent to vehicle owners about their insurance coverage and must be returned to this office within 30 days. The office then runs cross-checks with insurance companies to verify the information.

About 84 percent of all verification notices now are being mailed to past violators, compared with about 25 percent last year. Questionnaires eventually will be sent to all past violators, including approximately 200,000 motorists who have received court supervision since the law first took effect.

Court supervision may be given to a vehicle owner or operator who pleads guilty to violating the mandatory insurance law. Once the court supervision is received and processed in this office, the license plate registration is placed into a random, sample pool of persons eligible to receive questionnaires. However, once caught, uninsured motorists always will be checked.

The shift in the focus of enforcement was among changes I sought in winning re-enactment of the law, which went into effect January 1, 1990, on a four-year trial basis.

Mandatory insurance has been a successful consumer protection effort mainly because the vast majority of Illinois motorists have complied with the law. Our enforcement efforts now must turn to those deadbeat drivers who want responsible motorists to pick up the tab if they are involved in a crash.

Previous violators are about three times as likely as other motorists either to drop insurance or drive without it. In recent years, my office found that about 26 percent of the previous violators receiving a notice had no insurance, compared with about 8 percent of all drivers.

The enforcement-by-mail program serves as a backup to the continuing requirement that drivers carry insurance ID cards in their vehicles at all times. Those motorists can be ticketed by police if they fail to provide proof of insurance,

The law requires all Illinois vehicle owners to carry liability insurance at minimum 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. It has received widespread support from law enforcement agencies, our state's court system and the insurance industry.

Under the re-enacted law, vehicle owners who fail to carry minimum liability insurance face a mandatory fine of $500 to $1,000, an immediate license plate suspension and a $100 fee to reinstate their plates. Paying the reinstatement fee ends the plate suspension for first-time offenders as soon as they obtain insurance and pay all fines and fees. Repeat offenders still face a four-month plate suspension.

Illinois' mandatory insurance law has delivered new protection for millions of consumers. We succeeded in getting about one million additional motorists to obtain insurance coverage and, as a result, have seen far fewer crashes involving uninsured motorists.

The number of reported collisions involving uninsured vehicles fell from 70,284 in 1990 to 51,150 in 1992.

Other changes in the law include doubling the license plate reinstatement fee for first-time offenders from $50 to $100 and streamlining the processing of mandatory insurance cases through the courts. A chief circuit judge now can designate a court officer to determine whether a vehicle was properly insured during an arrest, thus eliminating unnecessary court hearings.

Targeting deadbeats who refuse to obtain insurance, increasing the reinstatement fee for first-time offenders and sending questionnaires to everyone caught driving without insurance should encourage all Illinois vehicle owners to comply with the law. Mandatory insurance is permanent; Drive on the Right Side of the Law.

February 1994 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11