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Comment by GrinningFool | Hacker News Reader

How is she able to get insurance coverage?

Most US states have some sort of assigned risk pool which makes minimum coverage available to even the worst drivers, as long as they still have a valid license. (I'm not claiming that this is necessarily a good public policy, just pointing out that it exists.)

https://insurify.com/car-insurance/knowledge/assigned-risk-a...

I'm happy to make the claim this is terrible policy that literally kills people. Every dollar spent on this should go toward transit funding instead.

But, when the (sad) alternative is that person keeps driving without insurance and the unfortunate victims are left with the full bill, I think the absurd insurance may be better than not?

Surely this problem is mostly solvable with ALPRs now. Every plate is attached to an owner and the insurance status can be checked. There's the situation where an uninsured driver is using someone elses car, but that's at least most uninsured drivers taken off the road.

1) What makes you think she has insurance coverage?

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuarial_science

With that many accidents, I'd assume bankruptcy if she didn't.

re: 2) yes that was the point. She'd have to be paying multiple thousands in an assigned-risk pool policy with that record of at-faults.

Unfortunately, if you make (or are born with) enough resources, you might skate for quite a while. Eventually you might get a lot of fines and even some jail time, but afterwards, some people just take their chances and drive anyway.

An estimated 1 in 6 drivers in Los Angeles don't have insurance. I know at least a dozen people who have been hit by uninsured drivers, and that's not counting hit and runs, who probably are also mostly uninsured.

The victim's own insurance will pay if they have uninsured motorist coverage (you'd be a fool not to have it, living in LA at least), but there is basically no punishment for the uninsured driver, assuming a fender-bender. The police won't do anything. The insurance companies don't think it's worth their time to try to squeeze out something from someone who probably has almost nothing anyway.

Here in Washington state, it's a fine of over $500 to not be able to present insurance proof on demand when pulled over...

2002-2004 [most recent I could find] California Department of Insurance (CDI) study showed Los Angeles County’s uninsured driver rate at 24.0% (2002), 23.4% (2003), and 23.7% (2004).

https://www.insurance.ca.gov/

Strangely enough... Most US states do not require insurance. Yes, really!

In almost every state, you may post a bond in lieu of insurance, for an amount as low as $35,000!

This is like saying "you can build a nuclear power plant anywhere, zoning be damned" because it's regulated at the state level and they aren't legally bound to honor municipal zoning. It's not lying, but it's basically the derivative of lying because it's only true in the most technical sense.

Most of those state processes are a) reserved for businesses b) discretionary and they exercise their discretion not to approve anyone.

If it was something that was practically doable every 200k HHI household that drives old cars and has good health insurance would take advantage of them.

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