Uninsured Drivers Causing Texas Car Accidents Must Be Stopped

By Jim S. Adler on October 13, 2009

Any idea how long you’ve been buying car insurance in case of a traffic accident? Any idea how much money you’ve spent adhering to Texas law by being an insured driver? And any idea how many people pay no attention whatsoever to this law and who drive anyway — with no car insurance?

Far too many drivers, that’s how many. In the states largest city, Houston, its believed 15 per cent of drivers using public roads and highways have failed to get the auto insurance required by state law. And this isn’t an oversight, but a choice. Many have received traffic citations for having no insurance but still don’t get any. They plan to take care of their own bills if they’re in a car accident, and even if they caused the wreck, they’ll force insured motorists to cover their own damages.

Of course, that’s not only gallingly unfair but can be difficult to achieve. If an uninsured driver causes an auto accident, the insured driver is stuck seeking financial recovery from his or her insurance provider. And insurance companies can be stingy, especially when they’re expected to pay for damages caused by someone other than their client that is, an uninsured motorist.

What perpetuates this problem? A major factor is ineffective enforcement. Over the past two years, Houston officers have issued 30,000 tickets to drivers for having no car insurance. But those same drivers kept on driving without insurance.

And why not, when Houston fails to put enough sting into such enforcement? But other municipalities do, such as Pasadena and Richmond in the Houston area. Both now enforce the law by impounding the vehicles of those caught driving without any car insurance.

Has this worked? There’s nothing like a bare driveway for a motivator. In Richmond, tickets to uninsured drivers have declined by almost one-third since the impounding initiative began. That’s what you call results.

Yet Houston’s problem persists. And because it does, law-abiding drivers insurance rates increase to overcome the costs of uninsured drivers.

If you’re fed up, tell your city council that you want uninsured drivers kept off of our public roads. And if an uninsured motorist or any driver has harmed you, a car accident lawyer or auto accident attorney can apply additional heat. Such a personal injury lawyer wont let the guilty drive away with a mere tsk-tsk. Like Richmond and Pasadena, your car accident lawyer can hit offenders hard where it hurts the most: in their pocketbook. That should get even deadbeat drivers in gear to join the rest of us as legally insured motorists.

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