More People Driving Without Insurance l Seattle Car Accident Attorney

King 5 TV recently reported that the number of uninsured motorist in Washington State is on the rise.  Approximately 17% of all motorists now have no insurance.  Washington now ranks 10th highest in the nation when it comes to the number of uninsured drivers.  Now King 5 is saying that this number is on the rise according to data compiled by the Northwest Insurance Council.

Interestingly, the article suggests that the number of uninsured motorists is closely tied to the unemployment rate.  That shouldn’t be surprising since most people who lose their job will try to save money by cutting out certain expenses that they believe is expendable.  Auto insurance appears to be one of those unnecessary expenses, which may be true if the alternative is not paying your rent and/or buying enough food.

I previously wrote in the March 2008 volume of the Davis Law Group Newsletter that people should buy as much uninsured motorist (UM) as they can afford.  Now that the recession is here, I’m including a partial reprint of that article:

Uninsured motorist or Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is extremely important.  I have handled a lot of cases in my office involving accidents that were caused by an uninsured motorist or by someone who has the minimum amount of coverage that is legally required-just $25,000.  Yet it is the uninsured or underinsured motorist who is responsible for causing a much higher percentage of the accidents that occur on our roadways each year. 

The law only requires that a driver have at least $25,000 in liability insurance.  Yet, most of us know that a $25,000 policy does not go very far, particularly with the high cost of medicine today.   That’s why you should purchase as much UM/UIM coverage that you can afford.

Here’s a true story to illustrate just how important UM/UIM coverage is.  About a year ago, a woman called me about an accident she had several months earlier (I’ll call her Janet).  Janet was rear-ended by another motorist who was uninsured.  The other driver was 25 years old, job-less, and had neglected to buy any insurance on his 1990 Honda.  The collision was fairly significant, causing more than $8,000 damage to Janet’s Ford Taurus.  Janet received a significant neck injury that ultimately required surgery to repair the herniated disc in her cervical spine.  She had complications following surgery and another procedure was performed.  When she contacted me, Janet’s medical bills were more than $80,000.  And they were continuing to accrue because she was still getting treatment and medication for her ongoing symptoms.  Fortunately Janet had health insurance through her employer.  But her health insurance carrier only paid about 70% of her bills.  What was more unfortunate however, was

that five (5) years earlier Janet decided to reject UM/UIM coverage so she could save an extra $100 per year.  That decision proved tragic.  

Janet’s decision to reject UM/UIM meant that she really had no recourse against the other driver.  Oh sure, she could have sued him.  But litigating and going to trial is very expensive.  Even if she secured a judgment against this young man, he was essentially judgment-proof.  He had no assets and a low paying job.  She never would have been able to collect anything from that young man.  If Janet had adequate UM/UIM coverage under her own auto policy, she could have secured compensation from her own carrier.  But Janet had rejected UM/UIM coverage years ago to save money and she never thought to renew it after her financial position improved.  Instead, she had to pay thousands of dollars for her own medical treatment. 

In the end, Janet had to pay more than $20,000 out of her own pocket for an accident she didn’t cause.  An unjust result to say the least.