AB 376

This bill requires motor vehicle registration forms to include a notice relating

to motor vehicle liability insurance and a place for the applicant to acknowledge that

he or she has reviewed this notice.

Current law prohibits, with certain exceptions, a person from operating a motor

vehicle on a highway in this state unless the vehicle owner or operator has a motor

vehicle liability insurance policy in effect with respect to the vehicle providing

coverage in at least specified minimum amounts. Any person who violates this

requirement may be required to forfeit not more than $500. For most vehicles, the

minimum liability limits required are, for each accident, $25,000 for bodily injury or

death to one person and $50,000 for bodily injury or death to more than one person,

as well as $10,000 for property damage. With each issued operator's license, the

Department of Transportation (DOT) must include a notice of this insurance

requirement and penalty.

Under this bill, DOT forms for original and renewal registration of a motor

vehicle must include notice to the applicant of all of the following: 1) this insurance

requirement and penalty; 2) that failure to maintain the required insurance could

result in suspension of the applicant's motor vehicle operating privilege; and 3) that

in the case of an accident, failure to have insurance could result in the applicant's

personal liability for damages and costs arising from the accident and suspension of

the applicant's motor vehicle registration. These registration forms must also

include a place on the form for the applicant to acknowledge that he or she has

reviewed the information in this notice.