Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Another view?
View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:
• Editorials - the Sun's viewpoint.
• Columnists - local and syndicated writers.
• Letters to the editor - readers' views.
Have your own opinion? Write a letter to the editor.
The recent accident when a young, unlicensed driver rammed into pedestrians waiting at a bus stop was tragic.
The loss of human lives and permanent injuries sustained can never be reversed. But just as tragic is the Legislature’s failure to increase the amount of liability coverage that vehicle owners must carry. How many more decades must go by before the Legislature does something? This coverage is preventive in its nature even though it is an after-the-fact coverage. What happens to those who have little or no money for their hospital bills and living expenses when out of work due to someone else’s carelessness? Who will pay for their rehabilitation? The minimum insurance requirement in Nevada is 15/30. That’s $15,000 liability per person per accident and $30,000 maximum. The Legislature needs to understand that $15,000 would hardly cover the cost of one ER visit and one or two days of hospitalization. The Legislature should not rely upon those of us fortunate enough to have our own health coverage and high-end auto insurance. Many of our citizens do not. It’s time for our state government to get off the dime and ask our drivers to pony up a few more bucks for some decent insurance coverage that will protect us all.
I'm told that when I'm at a stop light, I should look right and look left. It's almost 100 percent certain that at least one the two drivers is operating their motor vehicle with no insurance. I have automobile insurance coverage.
CarmineD
Exactly how would that help? Those running around uninsured would still be doing so. An idea once floated would have added an additional fuel tax which would then be used to insure every driver in the state. No more "uninsured" vehicles, regardless where they were licensed, would be on our roadways. No more insurance premiums & coverage to avoid. Even the 1,000s of illegals now plying our roadways would be covered. Any such tax law would have to written in stone that the funds collected could be used only for the purpose intended and never, never used for other purposes like has happened with lottery funds and Social Security funds. I know there are problems with such a plan but, if we are going to have mandatory insurance requirements on the book (as we do), then that requirement should be enforced. It simply cannot be enforced fairly or adequately under the present system, so it must be changed. Got a better idea to solve the problem? Let's hear it.
Comment removed by moderator. Name Calling
Richard Rychtarik is no doubt an insurance agent or a personal injury attorney. Forcing higher limits on insurance will only raise rates causing more people to drive with no insurance at all. BTW did anyone catch the election coverage last night on Fox News? Karl Rove is too funny.
Insurance is bought on the basis of what you can't afford to loose. Very low income people have nothing to loose and therefore do not need much insurance. The poor souls who got run over will have to try to collect through their insurances if the driver had the min policy. I agree limits should be at least 100k or whatever it costs to stay in a hospital a couple weeks. Then of course the uninsured driver problem...
Richard, if you can get this thing going how about NO FAULT INSURANCE so you pay for your accidents thru higher insurance costs and I pay less since I don't have accidents. No fault is less expensive cause we wouldn't pay insurance adjusters to determine who was at fault. Each party pays their own way. Retain the penalties for criminal negligence and worse. And retain the right to sue for injuries and loss of life but let your insurance cover your medical care...
How can you register a car without proving insurance? You can't buy a car(from a legitimate dealer) without proving proof of insurance first. What are any of these proposed ideas actually going to do?