New uninsured motorist law effective July 1
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Tennessee drivers soon will face more severe consequences if they don’t have insurance. The James Lee Atwood bill will take effect July 1. State Rep. Andy Holt says one out of every four drivers in the state are hitting the road without insurance. “What we can estimate on the state level is 23 to 24 percent of the drivers on the road right now in the state of Tennessee are uninsured,” Holt said. State Rep. Jimmy Eldridge, who co-sponsored the James Lee Atwood bill, says this bill is to encourage drivers to have car insurance. “So what this is doing is putting more strength into requiring people to have car insurance,” Eldridge said. The new law states if you fail to provide proof of insurance during a traffic stop you have 15 days to provide it. If the driver does not submit proof of insurance they will be fined $25. If the driver does not pay the fine they will be sent a second notice and the fine will be raised to $100. “It looks very onerous. It looks like this is a new law that if you’re simply pulled over and you don’t have proof of insurance that your vehicle’s going to be towed, it’s going to be at least a $300 fine, and it’s really just not the case,” Holt said. According to the new law, Tennessee drivers who fail to provide insurance after two notices risk having their registration revoked.
Holt said the maximum fine under the current law is $100, but under the new law the maximum fine is $300. The new law does allow for repeat offenders to have their car impounded, but that’s at the discretion of the law enforcement officer at the traffic stop. Drivers also will be required to provide proof of insurance when they renew their vehicle registration.
