Bill would tighten auto insurance law

Alabama's mandatory auto insurance law will be stiffened if a new state House of Representatives' bill passes the Senate and goes into law later this year.

House Bill 162 was passed late last week. It would close loopholes that allow scofflaws to get an insurance identification card with a minimum down payment, only to let the policy lapse during ensuing months.

At the heart of the bill is a requirement for auto insurers to maintain an electronic database of insured drivers that would be shared with regulators and police. That way, police could verify insurance coverage at the roadside with an updated database; lapsed ID cards would no longer fool anyone.

"There are a lot of people skirting the law," said Alabama Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, a bill sponsor. "This closes up one of the last loopholes."

It's a pretty vast one. An ID card certifying auto insurance coverage that's required by a law passed in 2000 can be had for a policy down payment as low as $50. The card is good for six months, and nothing gets reported to police or regulators if no more is paid and the policy lapses.

The Senate is also getting into the act. On Thursday it passed a bill that would increase the minimum coverage drivers must hold for damaging the property of another person from $10,000 to $25,000. Insurers estimate 30 percent of Alabamians drive uninsured, despite the 2000 law.

"You hear stories from some pretty outraged people,"