By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
The plight of a Jasper County woman who was involved in a traffic accident with an uninsured, out-of-state driver has prompted local lawmakers to seek to close a loophole in the state’s auto insurance liability law.
Current law mandates that Missouri drivers maintain liability insurance, but it does not require the same of drivers registered in another state.
Hard lesson
Tamara Beinlich, 52, of rural Joplin, learned of that the hard way after a Dec. 1 accident at a downtown Joplin intersection. An uninsured motorist from Oklahoma plowed into her 1994 Chevrolet Blazer while jumping a green light and making a left turn in front of her.
The other driver was ticketed for failure to yield. But the police officer could not cite him for having no insurance because he was registered in Oklahoma.
Beinlich was carrying liability insurance as required in Missouri but had no comprehensive coverage. Her vehicle was disabled, and she had no means to get it repaired. She watched in dismay as the uninsured driver climbed back in his truck and drove off with nothing more than a minor traffic ticket.
A story in the Globe and letters to the editor that Beinlich sent to various other newspapers publicized the loophole and spurred action by local legislators.
“I got the state pretty much up in arms about it,” Beinlich said Tuesday. “Because, well, it was a rotten thing to have happen.”
Area lawmakers
State Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, and state Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, introduced bills last week in the Missouri Senate and House seeking to rectify the matter. Both bills would require out-of-state drivers to abide by the auto insurance laws of their own states and would allow Missouri law enforcement to hold them responsible for not having auto insurance.
Nodler said in a news release that it is a matter of fairness “to all law-abiding drivers in the state.” He said Beinlich was doing everything the state required of her as a resident, driver and taxpayer, but she was provided no protection in return from an uninsured, out-of-state driver.
Nodler said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he sees it as an “unintended loophole” in state law that somehow went without much notice or publicity until now. He said he doubts that Beinlich is the first to have been victimized.
“One would guess that it has happened before, especially with all the drivers we have from out of state in the Joplin area,” he said.
Posed bills
Under the bills introduced in the Legislature, drivers who are not in compliance with their own state’s auto insurance requirements would be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and would be subject to suspension of their driving privileges in Missouri. The Missouri Department of Revenue also would notify the state in which they reside of the offense.
Flanigan said the lawmakers had the proposed legislation reviewed by the Department of Revenue and the Missouri State Highway Patrol before the measures were introduced in the Legislature.
“I think it’s good legislation,” Flanigan said. “I think it fills a gap in state law.”
Flanigan said he hoped the measure could be passed as a consent bill, but its penalty provision prevents that. Both bills have yet to be assigned to committees.
A reader of the Globe contacted Beinlich in December and helped her get her car back in drivable shape, although damage to the vehicle’s frame still limits her use of it. She plans to continue driving the Blazer until it finally gives out. She said she is grateful for the help she received, and for those who heard her grievance with the law and are seeking to change it.
“I’m excited there’s a bill,” she said. “I hope our legislators protect Missourians from out-of-state drivers.”
Liability requirements
All 50 states have minimum insurance requirements. The amount of liability insurance required varies from state to state.
