New Hampshire has long allowed residents to drive without car insurance, rebuffing multiple attempts to require it over the years.
With the state set to do away with mandatory car inspections at the end of January, some people think it’s time to start — but lawmakers are poised to kill a mandatory car insurance bill yet again.
Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican representing Littleton and surrounding towns, said he’s heard from constituents who want drivers to be insured and has filed legislation to add it as a requirement to register vehicles in the state. However, he didn’t publicly express his own thoughts the bill.
“Even if I don’t always agree with my constituents, there are times when I would introduce the legislation on their behalf and at their request to serve their interests,” Barton told a House committee on Wednesday. “That’s what we all do as representatives. This is one of those cases, and I’m here to just introduce it on their behalf and express no opinion whatsoever.”
In an interview later on, Barton said that he’s heard from four separate people about the issue — and in his experience, if one person is asking for something, there are probably 100 others who want it but haven’t asked.
New Hampshire is the only state that allows residents to drive without car insurance, as long as they can prove their ability to handle financial fallout from an accident where they’re at fault. If someone can’t meet those payments, their driving privileges might be suspended, according to the state’s insurance department.
Barton said his constituents are worried that, as safety inspections are no longer required, there will be more car accidents with unsafe vehicles on the road, although prior studies by the federal government have found no significant impact of inspections when it comes to crashes related to vehicle failure.
Requiring car insurance isn’t likely to bring masses of drivers to obtain it. Ninety percent of cars registered in the state are already insured. In Massachusetts and Maine, which both require car insurance, that number isn’t much higher, sitting at an average of 93.2%.
The bill is unlikely to pass, as the Legislature has shot it down several times before. Libertarian-leaning Republicans in the House have chased less government involvement in restrictions on drivers and vehicles when they eliminated car inspections last year.
Rep. John Hunt, a Republican from Rindge who chairs the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee, said New Hampshire’s current model works. All auto insurance policies — which most drivers have — must include uninsured motorist coverage, which still protects the car if it’s damaged in an accident caused by someone who doesn’t have auto insurance.
“If you’re in a car accident and the other person’s at fault, you’re almost better off if that person doesn’t have insurance because then, your insurance company … is the only phone call you have to make, and you don’t have to chase the other guy’s insurance company,” Hunt said.
