True, Or B.S., Texas Peeps ???

[Jeff '79]

Recently, the City of Dallas , Texas , passed an ordinance stating that if a driver is pulled over by law enforcement and is not able to provide proof of insurance, the car is towed.

To retrieve the car after being impounded, they must show proof of insurance to have the car released. This has made it easy for the City of Dallas to remove uninsured cars.

Shortly after the "No Insurance" ordinance was passed, the Dallas impound lots began to fill up and were full after only nine days. 80 + % of the impounded cars were driven by illegals.

Not only must they provide proof of insurance to have their car released, they have to pay for the cost of the tow, a $350 fine, and $20 for every day their car is kept in the lot.

Accident rates are going down and... Dallas' solution gets uninsured drivers off the road WITHOUT making them show proof of nationality.

Wonder how the ACLU or the Justice Department will get around this one.

[MEANZ06]

God i love texas!

[Datawiz]

I hope that's true and it should be implemented nationally.

[Defib1961]

Another reason I love my state.

[Blue 92]

The law is real:

Dallas Resident,

Beginning January 1, 2009 the Dallas Police Department will begin enforcing the Uninsured Motorist Ordinance, approved by the Dallas City Council on May 28, 2008. Under this ordinance drivers stopped for a traffic violation who cannot show proof of auto insurance meeting state requirements will be issued a citation and will have his or her vehicle towed at the owner’s expense. The City already tows the vehicles of uninsured motorists involved in traffic accidents.

The new ordinance is in response to the large number of people driving in the City of Dallas without the proper state required auto insurance. These uninsured drivers place an unfair burden on those who comply with state law and maintain auto insurance. The Dallas Police Department currently issues about 75,000 citations a year to motorists with no auto insurance. With the new ordinance, the city anticipates fewer of these citations as more drivers comply with the law to avoid having their vehicles towed.

To find out more about the Uninsured Motorist Ordinance that amended Section 28-4 of the Dallas City Code, please review the ordinance.

If you have any questions about this policy please call 311 (the City of Dallas’ Customer Service Helpline) or 214-670-5111 when calling outside the City of Dallas.

Welcome to the City of Dallas, Texas - Towing Uninsured Motorist Information

Hard to say about the results.

[BuckyThreadkiller]

If they can't provide the insurance and pay the storage fees the city then sells the car and keeps the revenue.

I'm watching the Dallas city auctions fairly closely for a deal on a '63 SWC.

[oahuyahoo]

You get to keep your car here but when you walk into court and can't prove the goodies, it's a 1000 smackers first offense.

[Rotorhead]

Now the insurance companies will raise rates on the grounds they didn't know there were so many uninsured motorists.

[snide]

Originally Posted by BuckyThreadkiller

If they can't provide the insurance and pay the storage fees the city then sells the car and keeps the revenue.

I'm watching the Dallas city auctions fairly closely for a deal on a '63 SWC.

[Uncle Pervey]

I wish Houston did that, hell I wish it was state law in Texas. My son and his wife have been ran into 3 times in Houston, nothing major, but each and every time the drivers were illegals and their Insurance ID was invalid.
What they do is go someplace pay 1 month of insurance, get their tag sticker and inspection sticker, then never pay another payment on the insurance. But! They have ID showing they have insurance.
I have heard that the LEOs now have access to the state insurance database and it is keyed off your license plate. When they run the plate it tells if there is valid insurance or not. I do not know if this is true or not.

[NB2K]

People w/o car insurance should be shot on sight.
Then, their head should be put on a stake in the median of the busiest thoroughfare in town.

[Will]

Originally Posted by NB2K

People w/o car insurance should be shot on sight.
Then, their head should be put on a stake in the median of the busiest thoroughfare in town.

A man after my own heart.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Uncle Pervey

I wish Houston did that, hell I wish it was state law in Texas. My son and his wife have been ran into 3 times in Houston, nothing major, but each and every time the drivers were illegals and their Insurance ID was invalid.
What they do is go someplace pay 1 month of insurance, get their tag sticker and inspection sticker, then never pay another payment on the insurance. But! They have ID showing they have insurance.
I have heard that the LEOs now have access to the state insurance database and it is keyed off your license plate. When they run the plate it tells if there is valid insurance or not. I do not know if this is true or not.

The database is real...if you get new insurance, you'll actually pay a filing fee to file with the state. Unfortunately inspection companies do not have access to the database, so you must still carry proof at least once a year for inspection.

[pappytinker]

Originally Posted by Uncle Pervey

I wish Houston did that, hell I wish it was state law in Texas. My son and his wife have been ran into 3 times in Houston, nothing major, but each and every time the drivers were illegals and their Insurance ID was invalid.
What they do is go someplace pay 1 month of insurance, get their tag sticker and inspection sticker, then never pay another payment on the insurance. But! They have ID showing they have insurance.
I have heard that the LEOs now have access to the state insurance database and it is keyed off your license plate. When they run the plate it tells if there is valid insurance or not. I do not know if this is true or not.

Here in Indiana, your insurance card is adequate for the officer on the scene. The officer on the scene does a registration and license check with the central database and as long as it comes back as valid you are allowed to go on your way unless the vehicle is too damaged to drive (or you are). However, all of your license and registration information along with the incident report is sent to the BMV in Indianapolis. When you depart from the scene you are given a form that MUST be completed by your insurance agent stating that you had valid insurance at the time of the incident and it will continue to be in effect until the registration expires. If that task is not completed within 15 days, your license is suspended and your registration becomes invalid.

The reason I know is that when an older gentleman tried to move from the left lane to the right lane and my car (not the 'Vette) happened to already be there I had to get the form completed even though the old guy was at fault and was cited.

[beadist]

A similar law has been in place here in Louisiana for years.

In Louisiana, you must carry proof of insurance in your vehicle and if you're found driving without that proof, the officer will immediately take your license plates and impound your vehicle. You will then have three business days to prove that you have insurance to the office of motor vehicles of Louisiana. Should you not show proof of insurance, your license plates will be destroyed and you'll be required to register your vehicle and show proof of insurance again. In Louisiana, the Department of Motor Vehicles handles all insurance cancellations. If your insurance lapses, your license will be tagged and you will be unable to renew your driver's license or registration until the tag is lifted. You will be fined if you did not show proof of insurance within 10 days, from 11 to 30 days you incur a $50 fine, 31 to 90 days and you will owe $125, if you do not show proof of insurance in 91 days or more you will be fined $225. So with all of this hassle due to cancellations or no insurance you can bet that in the long run it's cheaper to carry liability insurance in Louisiana.

[Kuelblaz]

I like it ... Wonder if they've started the auctions yet?

[Vet4jdc]

Originally Posted by datawiz

I hope that's true and it should be implemented nationally.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by BuckyThreadkiller

If they can't provide the insurance and pay the storage fees the city then sells the car and keeps the revenue.

I'm watching the Dallas city auctions fairly closely for a deal on a '63 SWC.

Yeh, you and 19k other vette folks.....

[mrvette]

Hello, Geico, my name is Jose' Jiminez, I needs INsurance,

[Bill]

I have two problems with this, even though I would personally benefit from everyone else on the road having insurance.

1) Yes, Texas does have some kind of computerized data base with "who's insured by whom". Screw ups happen, and it is very possible that folks that might have valid minimum coverage liability won't be able to prove it upon demand, and then, poof, they lose their car. Ever been pulled over, and in the heat of the traffic stop, can't find and produce upon demand your current insurance card? I have.

2) OK, so we take someones car and lets just say they were indeed driving with no insurance. Fine. If they can't pay the hefty fine and impound fee, along with the cab ride to get their car back, then they lose their car. If it would take a little while to scrape together the money, then they still lose, because daily storage fees keep increasing the cost to get the car back. This is not fair. The punishment is worse than the crime, or to put it another way, it is "cruel and unusual punishment".

If we were seizing a car from someone who has caused property damage or injury to another, fine, but we are seizing a car from someone who has NOT actually caused harm to another.

Finally, what about those folks who actually have liability insurance, but for whatever reason, the driver is not a covered driver, and thus there is no actual coverage on the car, at the time of the stop?

Say your policy covers listed drivers only and your friend borrows your car. Your friend is not covered, even though you paid for insurance, and had you been driving, you would have been covered. Still think it is OK for government to steal the car?