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New Kentucky Law Toughens Penalties for Driving Without Insurance

Starting June 1st, Kentucky motorists who don't carry insurance risk losing their car registration.  Registered owners of personal vehicles shown to have been without insurance more than 60 days will receive notices in the mail.  The owners will then have 30 days to obtain coverage or show proof of existing insurance before their registration is canceled.  The new enforcement effort is aimed at those who skirt Kentucky's mandatory insurance law. 

"This law is aimed at people who are driving uninsured and they know they are driving uninsured.  They typically will obtain a policy just long enough to get a vehicle registered and then they would go and cancel it," according to Chuck Wolfe, a spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Each month, insurance companies will submit to the state the vehicle identification numbers of the vehicles their policies insure.  A database compares the VINS with those of vehicles registered to Kentucky owners.  The initiative has been test-piloted in eight counties within the past few years, and based on those results, the state estimates around 30-thousand un-insured notices will be issued each month.

Lisa is a Scottsville native and WKU alum. She has worked in radio as a news reporter and anchor for 18 years. Prior to joining WKU Public Radio, she most recently worked at WHAS in Louisville and WLAC in Nashville. She has received numerous awards from the Associated Press, including Best Reporter in Kentucky. Many of her stories have been heard on NPR.