Bills aim to crack down on state's uninsured drivers

Senate Bill 701 and House Bill 1792, authored by Oklahoma City Republicans Sen. David Holt and Rep. Mike Christian, would raise fines for uninsured drivers, allow law enforcement officials to seize car tags of uninsured drivers, and create a temporary state insurance plan that would cover vehicles with confiscated tags.

Drivers who have their car tags confiscated under the legislative proposals would receive a temporary sticker to place on their vehicle until they obtain insurance.

The legislation would also create administrative fees for uninsured drivers that would go to law enforcement and also to pay for the state temporary insurance plan.

Doak has stepped up the Insurance Department's efforts to combat uninsured drivers in the state because of the amount of money the problem is costing the state, he said.

The agency estimates there are up to 563,692 uninsured Oklahoma drivers who annually cost the state more than $8.8 million in unpaid insurance premium taxes.

“Those millions of dollars are just the beginning,” Doak said. “We know for a fact that it is making things more expensive in the state.”