Gov. Mark Sanford last week vetoed legislation that would have increased the amount of liability insurance motorists must carry. But the bill was aimed at protecting drivers and passengers from financial loss and high medical expenses from an accident. Lawmakers should override the governor's veto this week.

The bill would increase the minimum liability coverage drivers would be required to buy to $25,000 for bodily injury for each person injured in a wreck, $50,000 for all people injured and $25,000 to cover property damage. The current requirements are $15,000, $30,000 and $10,000, respectively.

The changes in liability coverage are needed to keep pace with inflation. A serious car accident can easily exceed the current $15,000 for bodily injury and $10, 000 for property damage. Medical costs have risen exponentially in the past few years. But required liability coverage in South Carolina has not kept up.

"We allow drivers to carry such a small amount of coverage that it's as if they're not insured," said state Rep. Harry Cato, R-Travelers Rest, a key supporter of the bill.

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South Carolina is in the bottom 10 states in terms of liability coverage requirements, according to the S.C. Insurance News Service. The changes would place the state around the national average.

The last change in minimum coverage requirements took place in 1997. Lawmakers raised the $5,000 minimum for property damage to $10,000. The other minimum requirements haven't changed since 1974, according to Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, a Senate supporter of the bill.

Gov. Mark Sanford and Robert Herlong, today's guest columnist on the "Other Views" page, argue that new liability mandates would increase insurance premiums. According to the Insurance News Service, a survey suggested premiums would rise 7 to 18 percent, or $32 to $100 a year.

South Carolina drivers currently enjoy relatively low premiums. A 2003 study by the National Association of Insurance Commissions said that South Carolina motorists on average spend $744.79 per year on auto insurance, compared to the national average of $820.91.

Sanford and Herlong are right that premiums will rise, and that those increases will fall most heavily on low-income drivers. But if the state is going to require drivers to have liability insurance, that coverage should be meaningful in the event of an accident. The current liability requirements are outdated. They need to be increased.