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No one I know has got into trouble on this account, but as a public service, here's a reminder: You're supposed to sign and date the back of your Colorado auto registration form, thereby indicating that you know that liability insurance is required by state law.
I always sign it -- I figure it gives the police one less excuse to haul me off if I get pulled over. For all I know, failure to sign an auto registration is good for a week in some unheated county jail, along with a healthy fine.
But that isn't enough, as I discovered when adjusting
some vehicle registrations recently. It was a nice day, so
I walked the mile up to the courthouse, paperwork in hand.
Everything went well until the clerk informed me that We
can't issue a license plate until we have proof that the
vehicle is insured.
That was one piece of paper I hadn't brought with me, and I'd never been asked for one before. A license plate, after all, is just a tax receipt, and the state is usually quite happy to collect taxes.
Is this something new?
I asked.
It's a state law that took effect last July,
she
said, and repeated that I would need proof of vehicle
liability insurance before she could sell me some license
plates.
So I'm supposed to walk back home and get it?
She was helpful. You could call your insurance agent
and have them fax it to us,
she said, handing me a
cordless phone.
While talking on that phone, I glanced at the wall, where there was a big poster which explained that Colorado maintained a computerized database to determine who had car insurance and who didn't.
Of course the state would, since anyone with access to a
computer and laser printer could fabricate a certificate
of motor vehicle liability insurance
in a few minutes,
thereby placating the clerk who has to put up with
obnoxious citizens like me at the license-plate
counter.
After I got off the phone, I asked her about the poster.
If they've got this big computer database, couldn't you
just check there to see whether I've got this vehicle
insured, thereby saving us all this aggravation of phone
calls and faxes?
Maybe that will happen someday,
she said, but
I think it's just for law-enforcement purposes now.
In other words, the state will maintain all this information for the purpose of fining and perhaps imprisoning you, but not for saving time and trouble when you're getting license plates.
I can understand why Colorado tries to protect its
citizens from uninsured drivers. What I can't understand
is why we don't eliminate the aggravation and paperwork,
and adopt pay at the pump
liability insurance.
That is, every time you bought gas, you'd be getting liability insurance.
According to the most recent numbers I could find, the average Colorado vehicle burns 599 gallons of gasoline each year, and costs $791 to insure. That works out to $1.32 a gallon for insurance, and that's high because some of that $791 average goes to collision and theft insurance.
Now, suppose the state just put minimum liability
insurance for Colorado drivers
out to bid each year,
and added the appropriate amount to the cost of a gallon of
gas. We wouldn't be paying any more to drive than we do
now, and we'd be eliminating aggravation and paperwork, as
well as the crime of driving without liability
insurance.
Further, the high pump price -- perhaps $2.50 a gallon -- might discourage some driving, thereby reducing the need for new highways. Those who drive more would pay more, and those who drive big gas-guzzling Spewts that cause more damage in accidents would pay more.
There would be some opposition, and when I talked about this with my auto insurance agent, I figured he'd be one of the opponents.
No,
he said. We could market supplemental
liability coverage and the like, the way they do with
Medicare, and a lot of people would still want
comprehensive insurance.
I don't think it would hurt my business at all, and
if you think we like all this current paperwork, you're
nuts. Remember, I have to pay someone to answer the phone
and find up your records and fax the form to the
courthouse.
In fact, I haven't talked to anyone who's against pay
at the pump
liability insurance. If our legislature is
serious about eliminating crime, improving transportation
and reducing costs and paperwork, why not? Or is that just
campaign blather that we shouldn't take seriously?
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