View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2013/05/02/290661.htm
Starting November 1, law enforcement officers will be able to remove the tags of uninsured vehicles in Oklahoma, the state insurance department announced.
House Bill 1792, proposed by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak and recently signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin, will also provide temporary liability insurance for the uninsured vehicle for ten days.
The bill, authored by Sen. Corey Brooks, R-Washington and Rep. Mike Christian, R-Oklahoma City, seeks to lower the number of uninsured motorists in Oklahoma over the long-term while providing minimum liability insurance in the short-term at no cost to the state.
Law enforcement officers will be allowed to remove the tag from the uninsured vehicle and replace it with a temporary sticker, insuring the driver for a period of up to ten days. Once the offender pays the required fees and fines and purchases insurance, his or her tag will be returned.
“It has been estimated that the financial cost of uninsured driving to the state alone is around $9 million in lost premium taxes. This money would have gone to into the General Revenue Fund to help fund public schools, social services, police and firefighter pensions, and other vital programs,” said Doak. “We cannot afford uninsured motorists on our roads any longer.”
The new law was modeled after a similar law in Louisiana. The uninsured motorist rate in Louisiana dropped from 30 percent to 12-13 percent upon implementation of the law.
Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department