Summer is that time of the year when people tend to go on long motorbike rides and road trips. Even the number of trips to the swimming pools and playgrounds is at its maximum. Hence, every motorist is more exposed to the dangers on the roads.
Although, the chances of being involved in an auto accident during such trips may not be very common, but every motorist is likely to be involved in maybe one car accident at least during their lifetime.
The pertinent question that would arise is – what would happen if either parties or one of them do not have auto insurance?
All across the US, roughly one out of seven drivers remain uninsured, as per the estimates released during April by the Insurance Research Council.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of uninsured motorists due to the recession as well.
There was a decrease in the number of uninsured motorists for 4 straight years before it rose to 14.3% during 2008 and dropped to 13.8% during 2009, according to IRC.
Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, Senior VP of IRC has stated in a press release that the economic downturn had virtually affected everyone and the rise in the number of uninsured motorists was also an unfortunate consequence of the present scenario.
Despite the laws in every state where insurance is compulsory, at least one out of seven motorists still remain uninsured. This puts extra burden on drivers who are insured as they have to bear the brunt and pay for the injuries that are caused in accidents, especially for the drivers who are uninsured, stated Sprinkel.
As per the new study, ‘uninsured motorists, 2011 edition’ the IRC puts the estimates of the percentage of uninsured drivers nationwide and throughout individual states during 2008 and 2009 based on the number of bodily injury claims versus the number of uninsured motorist claims.
During 2009, the 5 states that had the highest number of uninsured driver estimates were New Mexico 26%, Mississippi 28%, Tennessee 24%, Florida 24%, and Oklahoma 24%.
The 5 states that had the lowest uninsured driver estimates were Maine 4.5%, Massachusetts 4.5%, New York 5%, Pennsylvania 7%, and Vermont 7%.
The state of Illinois falls somewhere in between at 15% of uninsured motorists.
In an earlier report, the IRC had predicted much lower numbers of uninsured motorists and the reasons cited were the high unemployment rate that was quite historical.
