Modest Proposal: Prepaid Auto Insurance
In the last three days, two events have reinforced my belief in the necessity of tonight's Modest Proposal. On Monday morning, I'm driving over to Covington to take care of the doggies. Not more than a mile on my trip, I come across a really bad wreck, with cones and blue lights an a really badly ruined car. I say something mildly vulgar, figuring that I have to drive the long way around. I get a look at the car, and realize: what if that was me? What if the person driving has no insurance? Or not enough? Or he drives away? I can't afford that sort of incident, but I'm really irked that I have to pay to protect myself against someone else's bad actions.
Earlier today, I was driving home from work to grab something from my home and turning back around to get back to work. A car seems to latch onto my bumper and won't move. I can't see their headlights, and I absolutely don't do the "tap on brakes means back off please," because I don't think the person behind has that kind of reflexes, and maybe he just won't do it. So I do my best to fend off anything bad while waiting for him to peel off. He does, and life is good. For now. Crisis averted.
Modest Proposal: When you go to the DMV to renew your license tags, you must tender proof of pre-paid insurance for however long you want to get tags for. Whether it's three months, six or a year, you get a tag good for that length. I would impose very draconian penalties for people who are caught going without. Like forfeiture of car and a scholarship to the Graybar Hotel. When your tags are up, you send away for new ones, either by mail, in person or online. No fuss, no muss.
The way I see it, good people win. We no longer have to buy under/uninsured motorist sections of the policy, which saves millions of people money. It means that people can't just "forget to have their insurance card on them." People who shouldn't be driving would be kept off the road. The law abiding among us shouldn't be held hostage by those who don't give a damn.
I shall attempt to head the main complaint off at the pass: "But what if Suzy Paycheck can't afford a lump sum of insurance, and pays monthly!" To which I say, so what? I don't buy things I can't afford, and I'm able to afford the things I own. I saved up for a long time before being able to buy a car and the insurance payment that went with being a young male driver. So I took the bus, hitched rides with parents and did without until I could hack it myself. If you don't have the money to drive, it doesn't matter if you're short a dollar or a thousand dollars, you don't have the funds.
I drive so much every day that I forget that it isn't just a right that I'm born with. I had to take a test several times before I was allowed to have my place on the road with everyone else. And I still have to follow the laws with those people. It isn't just a freebie for everyone, and we should remember that.
Earlier today, I was driving home from work to grab something from my home and turning back around to get back to work. A car seems to latch onto my bumper and won't move. I can't see their headlights, and I absolutely don't do the "tap on brakes means back off please," because I don't think the person behind has that kind of reflexes, and maybe he just won't do it. So I do my best to fend off anything bad while waiting for him to peel off. He does, and life is good. For now. Crisis averted.
Modest Proposal: When you go to the DMV to renew your license tags, you must tender proof of pre-paid insurance for however long you want to get tags for. Whether it's three months, six or a year, you get a tag good for that length. I would impose very draconian penalties for people who are caught going without. Like forfeiture of car and a scholarship to the Graybar Hotel. When your tags are up, you send away for new ones, either by mail, in person or online. No fuss, no muss.
The way I see it, good people win. We no longer have to buy under/uninsured motorist sections of the policy, which saves millions of people money. It means that people can't just "forget to have their insurance card on them." People who shouldn't be driving would be kept off the road. The law abiding among us shouldn't be held hostage by those who don't give a damn.
I shall attempt to head the main complaint off at the pass: "But what if Suzy Paycheck can't afford a lump sum of insurance, and pays monthly!" To which I say, so what? I don't buy things I can't afford, and I'm able to afford the things I own. I saved up for a long time before being able to buy a car and the insurance payment that went with being a young male driver. So I took the bus, hitched rides with parents and did without until I could hack it myself. If you don't have the money to drive, it doesn't matter if you're short a dollar or a thousand dollars, you don't have the funds.
I drive so much every day that I forget that it isn't just a right that I'm born with. I had to take a test several times before I was allowed to have my place on the road with everyone else. And I still have to follow the laws with those people. It isn't just a freebie for everyone, and we should remember that.