Automobile insurance rates in South Carolina have benefited from a return to the free market following a legislative overhaul of the insurance system in 1999. Getting uninsured drivers off the road should have a similar effect on rates. Finally the state is making progress in reducing their numbers.
At last estimate, 28 percent of motorists in South Carolina don't have automobile insurance, the third worst rate in the nation. Their presence on the road drives up the cost of insurance. Those who follow the law have to carry uninsured motorist insurance to cover an accident with those who don't.
Additionally, many uninsured drivers don't have automobile insurance because their bad driving records drive their rates up. Getting those drivers off the road should generally improve driving safety in South Carolina.
The state Department of Public Safety hired 30 retired state troopers last August to concentrate on uninsured motorists. Using information from the Division of Motor Vehicles, those part-time ex-troopers have dealt with more than 33,875 reports of uninsured motorists.
The officers weren't able to find all of those motorists, but they did personally contact more than two-thirds. Of that number, 13,391 obtained insurance. Some 8,200 license tags were confiscated.
The numbers increased in the last month, with 4,300 cases cleared. A DMV spokesman said the department's computer system, part of its much maligned Operation Phoenix, has improved the agency's ability to determine which motorists don't have insurance, which formerly was done manually. The system should further improve as notifications of auto insurance cancellations are made electronically by most insurance agents in the state to DMV early next year.
Meanwhile, a law prohibiting the use of homemade license plates -- Tag Applied For -- has removed a device by which uninsured motorists were able to more easily avoid detection.
The Legislature's 1999 decision to terminate the state's Reinsurance Facility helped restore competition to the auto insurance industry, as additional companies began doing business in the state.
Consequently, the state's ranking among the 50 states has improved in the average cost of insurance. South Carolina moved from 31st to 34th in 2001, the latest year for which figures are available.
Getting uninsured motorists off the road should continue to be a priority, for safety and for the effect that it has on the cost of automobile insurance.
It's another area where a decline in the national ranking is in order.
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