Dallas To Vote On Towing Uninsured Drivers

[Billy Blaze]

You also lose your license for driving without insurance, depending on the judge it can be the first time.
I still think these laws work.
A criminal is going to drive regardless of the law anyway, as you guys say someone with ill intent is going to abandon the car.
Someone who is trying to do the right thing but just does not have the money to pay may become a criminal, they sure cant pay to buy another car if they cant pay for insurance....right?
I personally dont even know anyone who doesn't have insurance.

On the other hand i think there should be more laws regulating re-treads, and they should be more strict on people that lose their load on the road and just keep driving. We have wayyy to much trash on the road these days.
But that's a whole different topic.

[Billy Blaze]

Regarding how it affects the poor, their are two sides to the coin.



I agree that this is a cut and dry issue. Driving is a privilege and with that privilege comes the responsibility of obeying the laws and carrying insurance.

If anything, this helps the honest and hard working poor people who can't afford to be hit by an uninsured motorist.

OK, I like to believe that it's not a privilege to move around in a free country but that's just my opinion.
I also believe that we should have the ability to buy a car with the certificate of origin and not hand over partial ownership of our property to the state when we buy a car, in return getting a certificate of title and the honor of paying taxes every years on said property....but that's just me.

Again I dont agree with driving without insurance but i dont want more laws, i am for limited state and federal government.

[Dave04]

One thing to point out... they're not really changing the LAW here. That is, it was illegal to drive without insurance before this, it's STILL illegal to drive without insurance. What they are changing is the punishment for breaking the existing law. Right?

[black roadster]

OK, I like to believe that it's not a privilege to move around in a free country but that's just my opinion.

No one says they can't move around. They just have to provide financial responsibility if they choose to operate a motor vehicle in order to protect other citizens if they hit one of them. The U.S. is the most free country when it comes to traveling across state lines. This law does not hinder peoples ability to move around the country at all.

I also believe that we should have the ability to buy a car with the certificate of origin and not hand over partial ownership of our property to the state when we buy a car, in return getting a certificate of title and the honor of paying taxes every years on said property....but that's just me.

You still own the car (assuming it paid off) and have the right to do what you want with the vehicle such as sell it or park it or drive it or wreck it into a wall (you're own wall, not someone else's)

The state does tax owners of driven vehicles for highway use and maintenance. Taxes are a necessary part of a civil society to provide services to their citizens. Would you rather have every road a toll road?

Note: I'm not sure where the vehicle registration taxes go but I assume at least some of it goes to the highway commission and TX DPS.

[SirHustlerEsq]

Too bad, what if you forgot your license, or credit card?

If your co. doesn't get you a current card timely, then you need a better Ins co.

only not everyone has access to mail. Its not like a license, because the insurance card is only good for 3-6 months at a time. I didn't go home for 9 months last time I traveled for an extended stay. Its not as simple as a license.

[trickyrix]

I believe the way the law is written (someone correct me if I'm wrong), it states that you must carry proof of insurance. So, regardless if you have insurance for the vehicle, if you don't have the valid card with you, you can be in violation of the law.

I read today that Dallas is waiting till 1/1/09 to start enforcement in order for the statewide insurance database to be ready. So if you're a tard and forget your card, you won't get towed and have to hoof it.

This all seems very fair to me.

If you're going to buy a car to drive, you MUST get insurance and factor that into the cost of owning/driving a car. And, as Rogue intimated, if that means giving up your Newports, then so be it. If you can't manage to do that, then you need to make other arrangements.

OK, I like to believe that it's not a privilege to move around in a free country but that's just my opinion.

Huh? I assume you mean that it's your right, not a privilege, to move around in this free country of ours.

I also believe that we should have the ability to buy a car with the certificate of origin and not hand over partial ownership of our property to the state when we buy a car, in return getting a certificate of title and the honor of paying taxes every years on said property....but that's just me.

Again I dont agree with driving without insurance but i dont want more laws, i am for limited state and federal government.

I agree with you on this one in part, Billy. My dad used to always find a way to buy his new cars on the MSO and not get them titled. However, I have to say that the current insurance laws just don't work - we have to find a way to get these folks off the road. Period. But, as I stated in an earlier post, I think this new deal will lead to an unholy nightmare of logistics (Where the hell are we going to put all these cars? Where are we going to find the cops to babysit this thing?). The only way this might work is to ramp up the inventory turnover at the Impound Lot. Give 'em 30 days instead of 90, or whatever.

only not everyone has access to mail. Its not like a license, because the insurance card is only good for 3-6 months at a time. I didn't go home for 9 months last time I traveled for an extended stay. Its not as simple as a license.

If you don't think you're going to get your card on time, your insurance co. should be able to fax it to you - I know mine has no problem with that. However, it should be a "moo point" (see above)...

[icepenguin66]

You're poll is missing an option: should cars without "proof" of insurance be towed.

I think this policy is stupid and simply another way for the idiots running the cities to help generate some revenue for their horribly managed budgets.

I've forgot to put the new copy of my insurance paper in the glove box before...and been pulled over before without it once or twice. I still had insurance on my car so that would be complete to tow my car (which would almost certianly be damaged in the process) simiply because of the lack of a piece of paper that can very easily be forged anyways!

They can come up with better ways to help deter uninsured motorist. And yes I do know of one person who has had their car towed under this nonsense in another city...and yes they did have insurance...simply forgot to put the new card in the glove box.

Oh yeah another good example, a friend got hit by a car, took his insurance info from what looked like a valid card. Turns out the policy was in several month blocks (mine is every 6 mths), and the guy's insurance dropped the guy during that period! But he still had good "proof" of insurance!

[icepenguin66]

BTW, shouldn't Dallas be more focused on say crime or the fact that a retarded monkey can pass Texas driver's ed?!

[Billy Blaze]

BR
Try not paying taxes on your car or home and see who really owns it
We pay rent on these every year, but we dont really own them...we can sell a car or house and pass over rent responsibility to another person.
and I guess if you want to destroy your property in privacy you could get away with it, imagine what would happen if you set fire to your own house even if it were not near another house....they would lock you up.
The point is with me is they are making it harder and harder for people to make it. gas, insurance, tags, inspection, wear and tear, and the higher rates for people due to their age, credit history etc etc etc...Tell me how a kid in high school that doesnt have money but is working at McDonalds is supposed to make it? if he dont have family to help him he cant. I guess he could walk to work if he is in the city.
I dont like laws like this because one thing leads to another, Dallas may adopt it and it may work for Dallas but in a small town in rural Tx. It will not work.

[Dave04]

Try not paying taxes on your car or home and see who really owns it

Home is one thing, but this is easy to do on a car. I have several friends that have unregistered cars. I don't see the big bad police you are so scared of coming to impound them.

But (!!) they also don't believe the have the right to drive these cars on the public roads, they are strictly for track use. So you argument isn't exactly on track here (hey, I made a pun)... the car tax isn't for the car, it's for the right to drive them on the public roads.

[Majik]

You're poll is missing an option: should cars without "proof" of insurance be towed.

I think this policy is stupid and simply another way for the idiots running the cities to help generate some revenue for their horribly managed budgets.

I've forgot to put the new copy of my insurance paper in the glove box before...and been pulled over before without it once or twice.

Did you read the thread?? Or maybe even the post above yours?

I read today that Dallas is waiting till 1/1/09 to start enforcement in order for the statewide insurance database to be ready. So if you're a tard and forget your card, you won't get towed and have to hoof it.

[altiain]

Try not paying taxes on your car or home and see who really owns it

I know several people who own (i.e., they hold the title, not the bank) cars that pay no taxes or registration fees on them whatsoever. Of course, these cars are all track cars and are not used on public streets. There's the rub - you can own as many vehicles as you want without paying a dime in taxes, but if you want to use them on publicly funded roads, then you have to pay into the system that maintains those roads and pays for the people who enforce the law on those roads. It really ain't that hard to understand.

Same with your house. You want to buy land in the middle of nowhere, build your own place, use well water and generate your own power, you can do it without paying a dime in property taxes. Property taxes - just like vehicle registration "taxes" - are used to pay for the infrastructure that we all use. Electricity. Municipal water. Trash collection. Public school funding. But I'm sure you aren't actually using any of those things, right Billy?

Still paying your car/house/double-wide trailer loan? Then you don't own that property - the bank does. As the true owner, the bank has the right to require certain conditions from you while you're using their property. Don't like the conditions? Don't borrow the money.

I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy. That said, I'd much rather pay my fair share of taxes instead of having to negotiate my own water, electricity and trash collection rates, build my own roads, school my own children, hire my own security force, etc.

The system isn't perfect, but it's a whole lot better than the anarchic utopian pipe dream you seem to have.

[jrj512]

Well said. Especially the last sentence.

[cam76034]

So if you're a tard and forget your card, you won't get towed and have to hoof it.

Hey, that's catchy! Maybe you can do the jingle for the new public awareness campaign.

[Nails]

If you're a tard and forget your card it won't be hard for a cop full of lard to tow your car to the impound yard!

[CraiginTX]

...I guess if you want to destroy your property in privacy you could get away with it, imagine what would happen if you set fire to your own house even if it were not near another house....they would lock you up.

If you're in a place where you can legally burn your big pile of brush or trash (i.e. rural, unincorporated areas not under burn bans), it's not illegal to burn your house down.

It IS illegal to burn your house down and try to collect the insurance money, and if your fire gets out of control and damages someone else's property - you'll be on the hook for that as well...

[Billy Blaze]

I know several people who own (i.e., they hold the title, not the bank) cars that pay no taxes or registration fees on them whatsoever. Of course, these cars are all track cars and are not used on public streets. There's the rub - you can own as many vehicles as you want without paying a dime in taxes, but if you want to use them on publicly funded roads, then you have to pay into the system that maintains those roads and pays for the people who enforce the law on those roads. It really ain't that hard to understand.

Same with your house. You want to buy land in the middle of nowhere, build your own place, use well water and generate your own power, you can do it without paying a dime in property taxes. Property taxes - just like vehicle registration "taxes" - are used to pay for the infrastructure that we all use. Electricity. Municipal water. Trash collection. Public school funding. But I'm sure you aren't actually using any of those things, right Billy?

Still paying your car/house/double-wide trailer loan? Then you don't own that property - the bank does. As the true owner, the bank has the right to require certain conditions from you while you're using their property. Don't like the conditions? Don't borrow the money.

I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy. That said, I'd much rather pay my fair share of taxes instead of having to negotiate my own water, electricity and trash collection rates, build my own roads, school my own children, hire my own security force, etc.

The system isn't perfect, but it's a whole lot better than the anarchic utopian pipe dream you seem to have.

You'll see my point only when the jackboot hits you right between your eyes, until then....enjoy bliss.

[black roadster]

[jrj512]

You'll see my point only when the jackboot hits you right between your eyes, until then....enjoy bliss.

Perhaps The Rapture will occur first and then it won't matter.

[cArAzzIE]

Get the database up and going and tow the bastards - across the state. As already mentioned - there is already a law in place. The penalty just needs to be redefined.

Fried Green Tomatoes Quote:

Girl 1: Face it, lady, we're younger and faster!
[Evelyn rear-ends the other car six times]
Girl 1: What are you *doing*?
Girl 2: Are you *crazy*?
Evelyn Couch: Face it, girls, I'm older and I have more insurance.

According to the 2008 Consumer Reports 2008 Best & Worst Cars....

Where the money goes (a new car):

48% Depreciation
21% Fuel
12% Interest
11% INSURANCE <-----part of the cost of owning a car and driving
4% Tax
4% Repair & Maintenance

I have been driving since I was 15 and I have never driven without insurance. I've struggled at times to pay it - but I did it, it was never an "option".