Our Faithful Ram was Totalled by Reckless Uninsured Motorist

I'm curious why anyone thinks fines are effective against people who have nothing to begin with. They just don't pay them, end up with a suspended license, and drive anyway.

Remember the old lyric "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose"? There's a lot of truth in that. Absent jail time, which nobody is going to dedicate for low level driving offenses, you've got pretty limited options to influence behavior in a society that solely uses incarceration or fines to gain compliance. If you'd like to bring back floggings, then you've got more options.

Some insurance companies will reimburse your deductible as long as they have someone to pursue, regardless of if that person pays or not. USAA used to, but no idea about now since they've went downhill.

anyone look at some of the vehicles parked at the Welfare Office lately
this country has turned upside backwards

gfh77665 said:

I have often wondered why seatbelts are so strictly enforced...but people are allowed to ride motorcycles with zero restraints. At least in a 4000ib car or truck I have a super high tech collision absorbing metal frame around me with multiple airbags. A motorcyclist might have a T-shirt, gym shorts and sandals.

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Umm... would you want to be strapped to a motorcycle that weighs hundreds of pounds and have it land on top of you? It would be idiotic to have motorcycle seat belts. Wearing the right gear makes loads of sense and saved my life years ago. But that is a choice not requirement.

Docwagon1776 said:

I'm curious why anyone thinks fines are effective against people who have nothing to begin with. They just don't pay them, end up with a suspended license, and drive anyway.

Remember the old lyric "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose"? There's a lot of truth in that. Absent jail time, which nobody is going to dedicate for low level driving offenses, you've got pretty limited options to influence behavior in a society that solely uses incarceration or fines to gain compliance. If you'd like to bring back floggings, then you've got more options.

Some insurance companies will reimburse your deductible as long as they have someone to pursue, regardless of if that person pays or not. USAA used to, but no idea about now since they've went downhill.

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amen, the dude that got in a head on with myself and my date was .33 drunk and driving on suspended license from his 2nd dui and the accident happened at noon, he was that drunk from the night before. After a head on collision and his 3rd dui he got 11 days in jail. Who knows how many more accidents he got into, how many people he killed since 1991 the year of my head on? I just imagine what they would do now with the same facts, give him a medal? If justice was this bad in the 90's the move to hold people to account has even moved farther to the left.

gfh77665 said:

I have often wondered why seatbelts are so strictly enforced...but people are allowed to ride motorcycles with zero restraints. At least in a 4000ib car or truck I have a super high tech collision absorbing metal frame around me with multiple airbags. A motorcyclist might have a T-shirt, gym shorts and sandals.

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I've not seen seatbelts strictly enforced ever, but thats probably a state to state thing. Some states have helmet laws, which is the rough equivalent. I would add seatbelts *used* to be more important for keeping you in control of your own vehicle as well. Inertia sliding you into the passenger seat makes it tough to steer or brake. Modern vehicles tend away from bench seating up front, though, so less of an issue.

I think California has a seat belt law for a couple of reasons
First reason is Safety.
The 2nd reason is that it gives police a reason to pull someone over & have the person get out, so they can see everything in the front seating area

gfh77665 said:

The posters asked "why" and I responded, correctly. You can debate the effectiveness of said litigation all you want but that was not the question. If they have "only $50" that's why "uninsured motorist" insurance is sold.

As far as the irresponsible drivers, many in my area are illegal's, and they simply run away and hide if they damage, injure or kill someone. Lawlessness at work, by Federal design.

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I don't disagree with anything that you have said, I am saying that on this forum politics will get the thread locked or deleted and you a warning.

CamperMike said:

Umm... would you want to be strapped to a motorcycle that weighs hundreds of pounds and have it land on top of you? It would be idiotic to have motorcycle seat belts. Wearing the right gear makes loads of sense and saved my life years ago. But that is a choice not requirement.

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Where did you read that I am advocating for "strapping someone to a motorcycle"? I never said that AT ALL.

1979PowerWagon360 said:

Anyone here who does or has worked in Law Enforcement knows that the number of uninsured motorists is incredibly high and it's so maddening. This goes for persons driving while suspended also! You see the same people over and over and judges do not sentence them to time. Court costs and probation. Pay fine and go home. Same crap and they go right out and drive again, no license or insurance. They know the repercussions are minimal.

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Need a system like they use to have down under. Insurance companies were required to cover the vehicle for the duration of the policy. It was up to them if they made you pay upfront or allowed monthly payments. Either way the insurance company was liable for the duration of the policy. Registration ran concurrent with the insurance policy. Six month policy = 6 month registration. Expired registration / no insurance and the vehicle is impounded until the owner brings valid registration / insurance to the impound lot. After 180 days without the owner picking up the vehicle, the impound company could obtain the title for the vehicle if there was no lien on the title. If it had a lien, the lien holder was responsible to take possession of the vehicle or the impound company would get title to the vehicle.

Very few uninsured vehicles with this system unlike the US. Those fly by night insurance companies give out a certificate of insurance with only a down payment. People register the car and then don't make payments on the insurance. The car still has a valid registration sticker but no valid insurance. Unless the vehicle is topped by the police or in an accident, no one knows the registration has been suspended due to no insurance. The fines are so low in many cases it is cheaper to just run the risk of getting caught than pay for insurance.

chri5k said:

Need a system like they use to have down under. Insurance companies were required to cover the vehicle for the duration of the policy.

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Qatar was the same when I lived there, other than you had to buy the entire policy up front. The insurance companies had salesment at the police station where you went to get plates. Rates were the same for everyone, the gov't set them. You also had to have a police report to get bodywork done in order to discourage hit/run scenarios.

My Commercial Auto Policy has to be paid up front
I use my Ram for my pleasure & business, which is in the Transportation Industry
Policy is for $750,000

pacofortacos said:

I don't disagree with anything that you have said, I am saying that on this forum politics will get the thread locked or deleted and you a warning.

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You probably should let the moderators do the moderating, and I don't know why you are targeting me with those comments. I don't need a lecture, thanks.

Burla said:

I'd wager illegal aliens have a lot more the a 13% uninsured rate. Hopefully some day someone will fix this, until then, make sure you up your uninsured motorists coverage to a high level. You can go from 15k to 500k for way under 100 bucks a coverage period. That way if you get hit, you can recover up to 500k from your ins company and they wont raise your rate. That is what uninsured coverage does. Most people have 15k, if you have that trust me fix that now.

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It doesn't matter how much insurance you have when it comes time for the insurance to pay up. They will pay as little as they can get away with. I had to sue Progressive.