Car Accident, uninsured driver

[Seand442]

Unfortunately, the same holds true in AZ. No insurance = ticket only. it is not cool and I would like to see states make it mandatory jail for no insurance but they wont because it would be unfair for people who can't afford insurance or some line of crap like that. Damn politicians.

[mcsap]

The cops can only do what the law allows. An uninsured driver here gets a ticket for $380 , a subsequent 90 day suspension and we tow their car. ( which they can get back but they must have it towed to it's next destination). There is NO jail time imposed by state law. We cannot force the person to pay you the damaged party. All we can do is ticket them.

If your friends are paranoid of the police... I can vouch for the fact that there is only one cop for every 200 miles of road in Montana. Sounds like he needs to move to the Big Sky Country. I guess every time he gets in a crash he is going to take it on the chin and if he is at fault , he will take off from the scene before we show up ?!!!

[txinvestigator1]

Cops came, did nothing. Issued the other guy a ticket,

Issued ticket does not equal did nothing. You should follow up with the courts. His license will get suspended.

You can sue him for damages.

[Charlie]

Cashcrop--

I am in total agreement with Seand442's comments about your friend's apparent paranoia about cops. Unfortunately, a combination of the media, Hollywood and a variety of TV shows have been doing a very good job of portraying LE professionals in a very negative light in recent years. Fact is, the LE profession has its share of "bad apples" just like any other profession. We're not immune but I dare say with confidence, the overwhelming majority of LE officers are honest and hard working professionals. In my opinion, your friend's worry about contacting a cop and fearful that the officer intends to plant something on him sounds pretty irrationale... Think about it a second, do you honestly believe most cops run around and select people at random to do this kind of crap??? I seriously doubt it...

--
Charlie

[Jynkxxie]

I was hit by an uninsured driver in Houston too. Cops came, did nothing. Issued the other guy a ticket, then let him go. And I was stuck paying for damages on my car. :\ Not cool at all.

Do you by any chance live in a no fault state? I do...so it doesn't matter, the ticket that was written can help you later in court to seek reinbursement (sp) for damages.

[dragonspider]

In Michigan, most insurance companies will pay your deductible, if the other party was at fault, although it is a "no-fault" state.... It's something called "mini tort".... A person backed into me one time, while leaving a gas station... He was in front of me, and decided he wanted to go out the other exit... he couldn't see me in his rear view, and before I could get out of the way, he smashed me.... No cops called... Exchanged insurance info... my insurance company paid for the repairs, less my deductible... his insurance company cut me a check for the deductible, I assume to avoid costly litigation.... check mini tort laws in your state to see if you qualify...