You are required as a matter of law in the State of California to maintain liability insurance with limits of no less than $15,000/$30,000 if you are operating your motor vehicle on public roadways. Your failure to maintain liability insurance could not only impact your ability to register your vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles, it could subject you to significant monetary fines in the event your are cited for driving without insurance. An additional, little known consequence of driving without liability insurance is that you forgo your right to pursue damages for pain and suffering in the event you are involved in an accident caused by another.
A short time ago, California voters passed Proposition 213. This Proposition had the effect of barring one involved in a motor vehicle accident from asserting a claim for general damages (pain, suffering, emotional distress and loss of quality of life), if that individual was driving without insurance at the time of the accident. Proposition 213 has no effect upon one’s right to assert a claim for special damages (medical expenses, loss of earnings, and property damage).
The consequences of Proposition 213 are significant for anyone involved in a serious accident. If you are driving uninsured and involved in an accident caused by another your right to recovery in a personal injury action will be limited. Perhaps this point is best illustrated by way of example. First, lets consider Deborah, a 23-year old woman who inadvertently allowed her insurance to lapse and who was involved in a head-on collision after the operator of an approaching vehicle lost control and crossed the center median directly into her lane of traffic. Deborah suffered significant injuries including facial lacerations resulting in permanent scarring, a crush injury to her right ankle that required open reduction internal fixation with instrumentation that left her with a permanent limp, and a non-displaced fracture of her right wrist which left her with continuing pain. Proposition 213 allowed Deborah to recover the cost of her medical expenses including the surgeries she required due to the severity of her injuries. Deborah was also permitted to recover the $19,000 in loss of earnings she experienced by virtue of being out of work for 7-months due to her injuries and need for rehabilitation. Deborah was also permitted to recover the cost of repairing her vehicle which sustained significant damage in the accident. Deborah however, was barred from recovering anything for her pain and suffering. She was also barred from recovering anything for the shame she has had to endure due to the facial scarring she was left with. Further, she was barred from recovering anything for the fact that her ankle injury left her unable to partake in many of the activities she enjoyed before (e.g. snow boarding, dancing, surfing, etc.). These claims, in Deborah’s case, had significant value however, the fact that she was uninsured at the time of the accident precluded her recovery.
Next, lets consider Amy, a 31-year old woman who too was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident and who, like Deborah, was uninsured at the time. In Amy’s case, she was stopped at an intersection when rear-ended by another vehicle operated by a distracted driver who failed to recognize that traffic in his lane had stopped. The impact to the rear of Amy’s vehicle was significant. By all accounts, the distracted driver was traveling somewhere between 45-50 mph at the time of impact. When struck, Amy’s body was violently forced up against her seat back. The force of impact however, was so significant that in the process, Amy’s vehicle was pushed forward into the rear of the vehicle before her. This second impact forced Amy’s body forward directly into her steering wheel. Amy’s vehicle was older and did not come equipped with airbags. The injuries sustained by Amy were, but for a whiplash injury, all internal but not initially believed to be significant. They were however, in the opinion of her physicians, sufficiently significant such that they would likely preclude her from having any children in the future. Amy’s medical expenses were covered however, Proposition 213 barred her from recovering anything for her claimed inability to conceive.
If nothing else, these two examples make clear that the consequences of driving without insurance can be significant if involved in an accident. If driving without insurance and you are the cause of an accident, you could be personally liable for all of the damages (general and special) suffered by anyone injured as a result of your negligence. It is therefore imperative that you maintain an active policy of liability insurance anytime you are driving on public roadways.