Over the last several years, people who are responsible for making laws have been trying to put mandatory car insurance laws into effect in the United States.
This is based on the high risk to the safety of the public imposed by drivers who are either not insured at all or are not carrying enough insurance. This is one side of the issue. Insurance companies oppose this because they feel there’s no difference between drivers with insured cars and drivers with uninsured cars.
In spite of this debate, more than 48 states have put into effect the rule of carrying mandatory car insurance in their respective states. As more cars are being driven without adequate or any insurance coverage, the debate grows even more intense between the insurance companies and the law makers.
The federal government has put a lot of money into researching so that a more informed decision can be made. This research includes many studies that pertain to assessing just how many are involved with uninsured or under insured driving. In Utah during 1999, a legislator motioned to have vehicles checked monthly to make sure they had adequate car insurance. Although it never made it into a law, it received a lot of support from other legislators.
It’s mandatory for all drivers to carry car insurance in nearly all of the states in the US now. Everyone who owns a car is required by the federal government to at least buy liability coverage. In order to try to protect the public at large from uninsured drivers, some states have regulations requiring all drivers to purchase car insurance coverage.
Car insurance companies, however, feel that the only coverage that needs to be mandatory is the liability coverage, which is also called under insured or uninsured coverage.
Their reasoning for this is that liability coverage will take care of all bodily harm and/or damages caused to others in the event of an accident. The liability coverage will provide compensation for any replacement or repair costs for damages to the property of others. Unless you live in a “no fault” state, liability coverage will automatically cover losses for you caused by uninsured or under insured drivers.