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KGMB9 55 Years
20-Percent of Hawaii Drivers Are Uninsured Print E-mail
Written by Brooks Baehr - bbaehr@kgmb9.com   
May 17, 2008 07:09 PM

 
Stephen Meyers learned about Hawaii's problem with uninsured drivers after witnessing an accident on Kamehameha Highway.

"And he was estimated by police to be going 80 miles per hour at the time of the crash at least. And he smashed out two mason walls and three vehicles in the process," said Stephen Meyers.

"It happened to me. It happened to me a number of years ago," said J.P. Schmidt

Even the state's insurance commissioner has been the victim of an accident caused by an uninsured driver.

"The fellow actually left the scene and took off. And the police did track him down and found him, but he had no insurance and so we were unable to collect anything for the damages we suffered," said J.P. Schmidt.

So just how many people are driving around in Hawaii without coverage.

"Based on our calculations there are about 20% of the drivers out there are uninsured, said J.P. Schmidt.

That's right, according to the state one in five cars on the road is not insured. Meyers believes Hawaii should address the problem by enacting laws similar to those in other states.

"You have to turn in your license plates at the DMV in order to get a cancellation of you insurance. So that you can't possess plates period if you don't have insurance for them," said Stephen Meyers.

Insurance commissioner Schmidt says in some states uninsured vehicles are impounded, taken away from their owners when their owners are caught driving illegally. But he says on Oahu that could be a real problem because there is simply no facility big enough to store all the cars that could be seized.

"The other problem is again tracking who has insurance because we don't have a computer data base that easily allows the police to check into the data base to see is that card a real card? Do they really have insurance," asked J.P. Schmidt.


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Last Updated ( May 20, 2008 05:47 PM )
 
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