SB 638

This bill changes certain penalties and requirements related to operating a

motor vehicle without sufficient liability insurance and allows certain religious sects

to qualify as self-insurers for the purposes of motor vehicle liability insurance

requirements.

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

vehicle on a highway unless the vehicle owner or operator has in effect a sufficient

motor vehicle liability insurance policy with respect to the motor vehicle. Any person

who violates this requirement may be required to forfeit not more than $500.

Current law also prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle on a highway

unless the person has in his or her immediate possession proof that he or she is in

compliance with the insurance requirement.

Under this bill, persons who are operating a motor vehicle on certain

nonhighway areas, including certain parking areas, are also required to have in

effect insurance with respect to the motor vehicle.

This bill repeals the requirement that a person have in his or her immediate

possession proof of compliance with insurance requirements. However, under this

bill, a traffic officer must cite a person for operating without insurance if the traffic

officer does not know that the person is in compliance with the insurance

requirements and the person does not have in his or her immediate possession proof

of compliance. A person, though, may not be convicted of operating without

insurance if the person produces proof that he or she was in compliance with the

insurance requirements at the time he or she was issued a citation for a violation.

This bill also alters the penalties for operating without insurance. Under this

bill, a person who violates the requirement that the owner or operator of a motor

vehicle be insured is subject to the following penalties:

1. A forfeiture of not less than $250 and not more than $750 for a first offense.

2. A forfeiture of not less than $250 nor more than $1,500 for a second or

subsequent offense occurring within three years.

3. If the person, in the course of the violation, causes great bodily harm to

another, a forfeiture of not less than $250 nor more than $2,500.

4. If the person, in the course of the violation, causes the death of another, a

forfeiture of not less than $500 nor more than $7,500.

This bill also eliminates the exemption of operating without insurance offenses

from certain surcharges and fees that generally must be paid by persons who violate

traffic laws.

Currently, if the Department of Transportation receives a certified copy of a

judgment for damages of $500 or more arising out of a motor vehicle accident, DOT

must, with certain exceptions, immediately suspend the operating privilege and all

registrations of the person against whom the judgment was rendered unless the

person can provide proof of financial responsibility. Proof of financial responsibility