DMV plans stiff action on uninsured drivers

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Under the system, insurance companies will notify the DMV electronically, instead of through the mail, whenever one of their customers drops an auto policy in midterm.

DMV then sends a letter to the driver, demanding proof of insurance. If the driver can't show it in 45 days, his registration is suspended and a state trooper is sent to his home to confiscate his license plates. To get his tags back, the driver must pay a $200 reinstatement fee, plus $5 for each day his vehicle went uninsured.

With electronic, instead of manual, reporting, the DMV will be able to hone in on lawbreakers faster, said Marcia Adams, the agency's director designate.

"The bottom line is that it's going to be tougher and more expensive to drive without insurance," she said.

Mauldin mother Inez Jones said South Carolina is finally taking action to enforce its long-standing law against driving without insurance.

"They're actually doing what was supposed to have been done years ago," said Jones, who has campaigned for change since her daughter was seriously injured in a wreck with an uninsured driver in December 2002.

It wasn't clear whether the new system would help keep premiums in check.

Allison Dean Wright, executive director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service, an industry-funded information service, said the cost of insuring against loss from uninsured drivers might drop. That's currently an average of $20.62 a year for typical coverage.

"We certainly hope it will have an impact on rates," Wright said. She noted, however, that many other factors determine the costs of auto insurance.

Wright said South Carolina is No. 3 in the nation for motor vehicle deaths and has a lower-than-average percentage of people who wear seat belts. South Carolina also has higher-than-average hospital costs, car-repair costs and jury awards, Wright said.

"There's so many factors that go into insurance," she said. "This is just one piece of it."

Wright said about 22 percent of South Carolina drivers are believed to be uninsured.

Dan Kummer, director of auto insurance for the Property Casualty Insurers Association, a trade industry based in Des Plaines, Ill., said it's too early to say what effect the new system will have.

"Other states have tried something similar, and I think the net effect has been decent in some states, not as productive in others," said Kummer, who advised a task force that worked to implement the reporting system.

The new system was implemented earlier this month, and all insurers are scheduled to be using it by the end of August, the DMV said.