Uninsured motorists in Lubbock, Texas, may risk having their cars impounded by the local police, if an ordinance being considered actually comes to the city council for approval early next year. The ordinance would establish new rules, giving law enforcement officers more discretion to deal with the great number of uninsured drivers in the city.
Describing the ordinance, South Lubbock Councilman Paul Beane called it, “…another weapon to keep uninsured motorists off of the roadway.”
The proposal came as a surprise to some of the council members, however, and it wasn’t clear whether it repeated options that were already included in state law. The council members didn’t have access to specific language for the ordinance before last week’s council meeting, and last Tuesday South Lubbock Councilwoman Karen Gibson said she had no information about it.
The local press spoke with Beane and Northwest Lubbock Councilman Jim Gilbreath, another sponsor, who said that the proposal wouldn’t come up until January.
Why is this ordinance so crucial?
As of last August, the Texas Department of Insurance records said that more than 20% of Lubbock County drivers couldn’t be linked to valid insurance policies. A report on the same matter from last June said the number was over 23% of the county’s more than 176,000.
In the event of collisions with uninsured drivers, county residents with insurance are often required to carry more of the costs.
The penalties for the first offense of driving without insurance includes a state fine of up to $350 plus court costs and a $250/year surcharge for three years, as part of Texas’s Driver Responsibility Program. Under state law, a driver’s license may be revoked for failure to pay the surcharge. As well, cars can be impounded on a driver’s second conviction for violations that include failing to maintain insurance for up to 180 days at a penalty of $15/day.
Andrea Marsh, executive director of the Texas Fair Defense Project explained that impoundment by the state happens after conviction, and after it is proven that the offending driver actually owns the car. The group had worked on the state legislation governing impoundments and penalties for drivers, but has not yet looked at city-level rules.
“Impounding someone’s car when they can’t pay for car insurance, and then making it more difficult for them to get to work to get the money to pay their car insurance doesn’t seem to be the most straightforward way to solve the problem,” Marsh said. “We want people to be insured, but we also want people to keep their jobs and earn the money to pay insurance. That ultimately benefits public safety.”
Beane maintains, however, that public safety is the very reason uninsured drivers must be addressed.
Under the proposed ordinance, Lubbock police would be allowed to impound cars “as a last resort” if their insurance could not be verified after a traffic stop, said Beane. He added, “They’re not going to be required by law to tow that vehicle.”
Impoundment comes with a charge for towing, and current city policy also says that cars held at impound for longer than six months can be sold at auction.