Legislators in Utah are concerned that defects in the state’s auto insurance database might be falsely accusing innocent motorists of driving without insurance.
Recent audits found that the database, which matches data from over 300 insurance companies to a list of all registered vehicles, is 96% to 98% accurate in identifying uninsured cars. This roughly translates to about 56,000 vehicles (out of Utah’s 2.7 million total registered vehicles) being mistakenly listed as lacking insurance.
Although the accuracy level is adequate enough for work by the State Tax Commission to revoke the registration of uninsured cars – as a precaution, the agency sends each driver three letters asking them to prove their insurance coverage – it can cause problems when it comes to ticketing.
Lawmakers pointed out that when the police use the database to ticket drivers, those vehicles falsely flagged as uninsured could be impounded before their owners even have a chance to contest the database.
Scott Smith, deputy director of the State Tax Commission, explained to the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee earlier this week that even if a driver shows the police a card from their insurer proving coverage, “the database trumps any card” under current law, since the cards could be out of date.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that members of the Legislature discussed limiting the ability of police to issue tickets based on the insurance database.
Sen. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi, who served as Senate chairman of the committee, explained that some police departments could abuse the database to hunt down “uninsured” cars and generate revenue. He then cited an investigative report by KSL, which found that 11,800 tickets for no insurance were issued over three years. Of that number, West Valley City police had issued the highest number of tickets: 568. But out of that 568, 28% were dismissed after motorists went to court to prove they had insurance.
“What I have an issue with is a potential perverse incentive for a law enforcement officer within a city to fish to try to issue citations in order to generate revenue,” Anderegg remarked.
He then suggested that the lack of insurance should be treated as a “secondary” offense, which means police cannot pull over cars simply for lacking coverage; they should need to pull drivers over for some other “primary” offense first, such as speeding or a moving violation.
