Wow... in John's post it made me realize that not all state require car insurance... here in Wisconsin... we can operate and purchase a vehicle without showing proof of insurance...also in Wisconsin we do not have safety checks where it requires that in other states...

Tho my kids drive older cars... 15-20 years old, I do make them carry liability...and yes, I have a 20 year old who drives occassionally his old Ford truck on the road... it is not insured... course, that is why we have uninsured motorist coverage too.. btw.. I have a have a 4 year old with full coverage... and then again, full coverage have various level of insurance... it is all so confusing!!!!!

When we lived in Kansas... we HAD to have auto insurance there...

So what about your state

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Answers

Here we routinely have proof of insurance and registration checkpoints. At times I feel like its the one of those old war movies "may I see your papers please":>) Seems there could be a less intrusive way for them to monitor compliance.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Here in Michigan I have never been in a "check-point" but insurance is required and you can not buy plates without proof of insurance. During the "Desert Storm" when my sons were there I got distracted and didn't pay my insurance and let it lapse. When I went to renew it I found out that the LAW in Michigan is that if you let it lapse you automatically get thrown into the high risk pool and our insurance was triple what it usually was for 6 months. Needless to say I didn't let it lapse again.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

In Maine we're required to show proof of insurance in order to register a vehicle. It only needs to be liability, though, which can be quite inexpensive depending on the year of the vehicle. On my 1964 Dodge the insurance for a year is only $150.00. Our 2000 Dodge pick-up is lots more because we have to carry full coverage. We don't have check points...that I know of anyways.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

In KY, whatever you choose to drive must have coverage. Must have ins. to get tags. If caught without proof in the car, it's 150.00 if you can't prove to the judge you just left it at home. That happened to my son after he first moved out on his own. The only leaway we have is if we buy a truck on the weekend from a private person. We can drive it straight home and be covered with our insurance, but we must get down there and pay the first day they are open. We have seat belt laws now too. All fines go directly to the driver.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

New Jersey has the highest car insurance in the country and we have to have insurance. My insurance for two cars is close to $1000 a year! Also many people are not insured so if someone hits you that is not insured, you are liable and your rates go up. Go figure...

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Each car is insured here in WV and each car must be inspected annually (under $8) and have current taxes paid to get a license plate (about $30 a year). Proof of insurance is required.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Like Yarrow sez, in WI it's not required. I had to search high and low to get the coverage I wanted and finally after some finagling I got "garage" insurance that'll let me be insured for anything I drive. The reason for garage insurance is I ocassionally buy and sell cars for some extra cash. I might have the car for a week, then sell it and its a hassle to be switching insurance all the time from one car to the next.

Personally thats another gripe I have. Way back when, when I first started driving, they insured the DRIVER, not the car, unless you had collision and it seems like thats the way it SHOULD be. Its not the cars fault if it gets in an accident because the driver was operating it.

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2001

Way back when they didn't sell cars and trucks worth 50,000 either. If you just insure the driver, how do you deal with the high priced autos? I drive an 83 pickup, full coverage, and my rates are 400 a year. I sure wouldn't want every driver to pay a "ball-park" figure to cover the costs of these expensive trucks. The air-bags alone on those new ones are worth more than my whole truck.

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2001

Well here in the police state of Florida you must have insurance to get a tag,if you you let the insurance lapse kiss it good by. The insurance company notifies the state and you DL is suspended. I think the fine is $150 the first time. If you get stopped without insurance the car is towed and you go to jail. If a car breaks down and you want to cancel the insurance you have to turn in the plate or DL gets suspended,yet half the people in this state don't have insurance. At least insurance is cheap if you live in a rural area.Daryll

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2001

Down here in the state of arkansas we have to have liability to get our tags. They did away with inspection a few years back but not they can do point checks whenever. Sherry

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2001

I should'a clarified for you Cindy, when I say they insure the driver that means I have liability for any damage I may cause to anothers property, including their $50000 cars and that coverage is unrelated to what I'm driving because I, the driver, have liability coverage.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2001

Texas is a "must have liability insurance" state. And honestly living in the woods I am glad they do. You have to have proof of insurance to pass inspection yearly, to renew or get a drivers liscense or drive a car off a lot once purchased, to renew your tags, it is customary here to ask for proof of insurance if someone is driving your car. Like the other post, with liability insurance it is really insurance on the driver not the car. Lots of folks with the "big brother" mentality hate this, and also hate the yearling inspection stickers you must have, I honestly love it, it makes my husband HAVE to fix the little tiny annoyances like a light out or horn not working at least once a year :) Vicki

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2001

Indiana requires a minimum amount of liability insurance, I don't know what the exact dollar amount is. When you renew your plates you have to write on the application the name of your insurance company and your policy number. The DMV never checks this info, so some people just make something up, or else they get a policy and cancel it after they renew their plates. We don't have to provide proof of insurance when we get pulled over.

I went for about a year and a half with no insurance and didn't even know it. When I was married my husband and I both had our cars insured with Allstate. When we divorced I had my car put onto my own policy. Later on ex-hubby cancelled his policy, and somehow my policy got cancelled too. They didn't notify me that it had been cancelled, I just realized that I hadn't gotten a bill for quite some time and called them to find out why. Even though it was their mistake that got my policy cancelled I still ended up in the high-risk pool.

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2001