Would you American guys every drive around without auto insurance? Or is it too risky
 

We all know that in the USA, driving without insurance is illegal (unless you live in New Hampshire, where you have the option to drive without auto insurance if you would like)

This article lets you know how you can get around those laws - How To Drive Without Auto Insurance And Not Get Caught (google it).

Still seems a little risky IMO.

I wouldn't do it. $50 a month is better than going bankrupt if I ever crash into someone's new car.

Buy auto insurance or sell the car. That's my opinion.

It's risky without it AND it is a scam. :mad:

I second that, but I do spend a lot on it. I added up what I on "just in case" to keep life status quo (car, life, homeowners, dental, vision, unemployment, disability, etc) and it's a third of my income. Makes you wonder... then you realize its not worth it.

I knew a gent who drove 11 years without a license, doesn't mean I would recommend it.
A third of your income on insurance is getting rediculous.

regards
Mech

We have to have insurance, by law (in this state anyway). You cannot register the car without it. And you cannot get the required safety inspection without a registration, either.

No insurance, no plates. You can do big damage to other people and to other people's property. Knock out the electricity, and businesses could be ruined. Kill or maim someone and you will be bankrupted.

Insurance may be a ripoff but with the litigious nature of america, (I.e. suing mcdonalds for burning yourself on hot coffee), its convenient.

In the list of things to do if you want to drive without insurance, they forgot to mention "don't get into an accident". Which is rather difficult to plan for.

They also don't mention how to keep your tags from expiring if you need to have proof of insurance to renew your tags.

And finally, I enjoyed the last sentence:
Intentional?

Good old McDonald's coffee. Please don't perpetuate the myth. McDonald's coffee was too hot, almost 200 degrees actually (imagine drinking the water in your radiator). They kept settling out of court for next to nothing (less than $1k, over 700 times).She needed $20k to handle skin grafts, they would only give her $800. So they went to trial, and the jury punished McDonald's since they wouldn't change their ways. The final settlement (after the headline grabbing verdict), was closer to $500k. Which is what it took for them to quit, and is more than fair IMHO.

Here's a link to the pictures McDonald's wanted to pay $800 dollars for to a little old lady (warning: graphic)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jqHC3ome9L...naldsburns.jpg

All of my insurance is mandatory (except life), or I would drop it. I only fear lawyers once a semester ;)

Who is usually the wealthiest guy in town? If your town doesn't have Oprah or an NFL player living in it, it's probably an insurance salesman.

Compulsory insurance and strict enforcement has reduced insurance costs here in civilisation.

Plus of course removing the ambulance chasers...

...there are literally hundreds-of-thousands of "uninsured" drivers in USA, and a huge portion of them "...no habla englis..." because they're undocumented. But, likewise, there are many white-trash highway hogs who just love to live & drive life in the risky lane.

Actually, the "ripoff" is C&C, not liability. Simple to get around that: just drive a car that you can pay cash for.

I disagree; I only carry liability on all my junk and I still consider it a rip-off especially when I figure my cents/mile costs. :mad:

Although the details vary from state to state.

A part that is sometimes missed is the source of the legally required financial coverage ( insurance ).

Technically in most places, paying ( monthly unending fees ) to a 3rd party insurance company ( Progressive or whoever ) is not the only legal option.

If you do the bond or cash deposit option. The con is the up front cost. The Pro is that it's a set finite sum of money. And , you can often cash it out if you latter cancel the policy ( getting most if not all of the initial invested funds back , maybe even some interest it earned over the years ).

Alternative Car Insurance | eHow

One of my professors in college said he took out a loan in order to get the start up funds needed for the required bond. He claimed the cost for the interest payments on the loan was less than what it would eventually cost him to pay an insurance company. He also repeated often how much he liked the idea of still owning the bond and being able to get his money back if he ever stopped driving and canceled the coverage.

On the other hand. It effectively means all payments come from you one way or the other. If it would have been your insurance companies $5k to fix the car ( or it was totaled ) now it's all your $5k. There would be no outside 3rd party to give you any money. So I guess it depends on the risk of accident frequency.

I can't afford a bond / deposit option at this time , or I'd do it.

My motorcycle insurance is 60% uninsured motorists coverage, but at just over $100 a year I guess I can handle that. No collision on my Fiesta. The wife's Sorento has $1000 deductible collision, which she has used one time in 24 years and my body shop buddy saved me the deductible.
I also carry comprehensive and highly recommend it, at least around here, where you can get hail damage, wind, floods, etc. My brother collected one comprehensive claim that paid 30 years worth of premiums and another that covered 250 years premiums. I call that cheap insurance.
For us the high deductible is a way to save a considerable portion of the annual cost of insurance. I think our total for everything except medical is $2500 a year, thats our home and 4 vehicles.

regards
Mech

I live in New Hampshire- love it. I don't have to wear a seatbelt, and if I get a bike nobody's going to tell me I have to get a helmet.

Of course I do wear a seatbelt and have insurance. Just because nobody makes me doesn't mean they aren't worth it.

The "article" is a sham. It's nothing more than a list of tips on safe driving. It's a hook to get you to buy the insurance they are pushing.

I notice you are in NY state. In that state you can't register a vehicle unless you buy insurance and show proof of it. Some people buy insurance then cancel it - but you still need to buy it first to deal with the DMV. Insurance polices are issued and renewed on a six month basis, which means you would constantly need to keep buying it and canceling it. If either your insurance company or the state finds out that you are doing that, they will give you a hard time.

You don't need insurance to drive a vehicle, meaning to be a licensed driver. You only need insurance if you register a vehicle, namely to obtain plates for it. Basic liability will suffice, but it's mandatory.

Like Old Mechanic, I pay extra so that other people can drive without insurance and not be a hazard to me.

OTOH, I passed on making a claim against an uninsured motorist because I don't want my rate going higher.

:confused:

...actually, we get to pay extra so our insurance company doesn't have to payout when those without insurance cause damage, ie: the BENEFIT goes to the insurance company, not to anybody else. Remember, you're basically paying the other guys insurance through your insurance company, so THEY don't have to payout without having gotten money first.

That is the basis of ALL insurance. The insurance company is betting that you won't die (or have a fire, or cause an accident) and you are put in the position of betting that you might. If you act responsibly, you don't really need insurance, but you get to pay for others who are less responsible than you. When insurance becomes mandatory it's a losing proposition for anyone who acts responsibly - but one that is forced upon you by the authority of government. (Dare I mention ObamaCare?)

Perhaps you don't realize that it's easy to add "uninsured motorist" coverage to your policy? It literally costs only a few bucks more compared to the total coverage, even on a basic liability policy.

My step daughter was backing out of a parking spot where she lived. The road behind the parking spot was 50 feet wide, from the back of the parked cars to the curb on the other side. She had to back out blind because of a pickup truck with a cap. She was driving a 1993 Nissan Sentra.

A woman, with no insurance, driving a Stanza, hit her Sentra. The woman hit her car 7 feet from the back of the truck, with 43 feet of road to her right. She had 5 of her relatives kids in the Stanza. My daughters Sentra was totalled, there was an imprint of her face where it hit the drivers window hard enough to bend the window frame out on her drivers door (2 door).

Since she had uninsured motorists coverage, her insurance company settled for $9300 and she kept the car. I took a week off from work and cut the rear end off the damaged Sentra, bought a rear clip for $1200 and welded it on her car. She pocketed $8100. That same week she won a bathing suit contest at Hooters where she worked and won another $2000. She drove the car another 100k miles, then sold it for what I paid for the rear clip. That $8100 (tax free) paid for her to have comprehensive insurance on her car until the age of 105.

20 years ago.

regards
Mech

A careful driver that has no desire to utilise their insurance or drives as if they did not have it is more likely to use the uninsured motorist portion of their coverage.

I understand the whole driving is a privilege argument but I really don't believe that. if you have access to a car you have a right to use it on property that you have a right to access. public roads are publicly owned, construction and maintenance paid for partly by my own contributions. As far as having insurance to keep other people financially protected, regardless of whether or not someone carries insurance they are morally responsible for their own actions. I myself carry insurance because I not have the means to replace someone's car if it is at all expensive nor to I have the means to support someone's stay in a hospital if I do something stupid so I buy into the scam.

I'm saying I'm out-of-pocket for the insurance and the uninsured motorist rider, and still chose to repair myself (in this one case) to protect the rate they will charge. If the accident put me in the hospital I would definitely make a claim. That stuff's expensive.

A donation is freely given, state-mandated un-insurance is NOT.

Me, yeah, Im a ***** for extended warranties and insurance. I drop my pants, grab my ankles and even supply the vaseline with the gritt in it. :thumbup:

I have full insurance on a 20 year old vehicle. :eek: I also pay less than 500 bucks a year and the secodn vehicle that has full coverage is a 2010 insight. :eek:

I use to work for a bank and remember customers who lived in NY and NJ who paid 300-500 a month for coverage. That was almost as much as their car payment.

There really should be something about liability on overly expensive vehicles though. Sure you can argue driving is a right, but accidents happen too, and if your Mercedes fender costs $20,000 then you should own some responsibility for putting that much at risk, that was a personal choice, and fault isn't always so clear.

I believe it's the OTHER person's responsibility to NOT do damage to MY vehicle as a result of THEIR incompetence or lack of driving skills...regardless of wealth or poverty.

...just, as it is likewise MY responsibility to NOT do damage to THEIR vehicle as a result of MY incompetence or lack of driving skills.

but so often there is shared fault, even just being there is a case for sharing some of the blame for being in an accident.

I agree that it should be your own responsibility, but those of us with good records are carrying everyone else and then some, via mandatory insurance.

States mandate insurance.

Insurance companies make MONEY.

Money feeds the political "machine" producing people who work for the State.

...detect a 'circular loop' here, yet?

I dont know about yall, but in my area it seems if you want to drive you must go no slower than 80 mph, launch your car 0-60 in 5 seconds at stop signs and green lights in all lanes.

In a sense if you are on your toes you can almost avoid any accident rather its your fault or not under the law. :eek:

My Dad's advice to me when I was getting my Drivers License at age 16: "Son, drive as if everybody on the road is an idiot and trying to kill you...because they are."

...and 50+ years later, his advise is STILL true.

You forgot to mention lawyers. Guess who writes the laws? Guess who enforces and prosecutes the laws? Guess who defends us from the effects of these same laws? How many politicians can you name that do not have law degrees?

It's quite an industry. It's the legal protection racket. How did we ever live in society without legislation and enforcement becoming so large and intrusive in our lives?

I was once rear-ended for coming to complete stop at a stop sign. He took off and the police said that I had the plate number wrong.

I only paid about $3,000 for each of my first three cars and I did not go for full insurance until my dad sold me the first Focus and required it, while I made payments.

I paid $2,700 for Chorizo and have full coverage, but it took me months to find my HX. How many did I post during my search? :)

Precisely the way I was taught and still practice. Pop told me I was the only driver he ever rode with that he could fall asleep in the car.

I would buy insurance regardless of whether it was required or not, and I pay for uninsured motorists because I KNOW that protects ME from someone who has nothing to loose, even though driving without insurance in Va will get you a $500 fine or you spend some time in the county cage.

As I posted earlier I bought a truck from a kid who had driven 11 years without a license or insurance. What I have seen driven into my shop, as far as cars that are rolling disaster waiting to happen, provides me with plenty of reasons to protect myself.

We carry $1000 deductible insurance on our home, which is paid for and worth over $300K even in the current market. It represents 16 months of my sweat equitly and if a tree totals the house I am covered. Same company for 40 years.

Xist nailed it, blame yourself for allowing lawyers to run the show. Of the attorneys, by the attorneys, and for the attorneys. Jefferson understood the dangers of giving lawyers that kind of power and tried to limit them to a per capita 1 in 1600 citizens.

Insurance protects me form the stupidity of irresponsible people and acts of nature as well as accidents. For me that is cheap considering that we could loose our lifes work due to one irresposible idiot.

I was thinking about how long it has been since I had to actually skid my tires in a panic stop. I wrote about it here on my bike when the car infront of me slammed into the car in front of it at about 35-40 MPH. That's the only time in years I have even come close. I know some states have "no fault" insurance, where you insure yourself and those who drive without it risk their assets and arses.

regards
Mech

Mech,

"No fault" insurance is rather different than the way you describe it. For a fuller explanation click here.