What Will Happen If You Are Involved in an Accident and Do Not Have Auto Insurance?
Every year hundreds of drivers without auto insurance are involved in accidents, some of them resulting in extensive damages to the person and property of the other driver. What happens to these drivers?

Why Don’t Drivers Have Auto Insurance?

Many drivers choose not to purchase auto insurance because they do not want the added expense of paying their premium every month. They believe that it is “a waste of money”, particularly if they are driving a clunker of a car that they could easily replace in a single paycheck. What they fail to consider, however, is that it is not only damages to their vehicles that they will be held responsible for following an accident.

What Will A Driver Without Auto Insurance Have to Pay for Following an Accident?

Drivers without insurance are going to be one hundred percent liable for the damages resulting from an accident they cause, including (but not limited to):

1. Damages to their vehicle
2. Damages to the other vehicle(s). Although the uninsured driver may be driving a car that is easily replaced, they cannot guarantee that the same will be true of the person they hit. Many new cars today cost upwards of five figures, and any driver involved in an accident with a tractor trailer or other large piece of equipment may find themselves holding a bill for six figures before it’s all said and done.
3. Medical expenses. The average emergency room visit costs $560-and that’s not taking into consideration special diagnostic tests, such as x-rays or MRI, or the possibility of an extended hospital stay while injuries are being treated. A hospital inpatient stay costs, on average, approximately $3500/night. A statistical study done back in 2004 showed that before they left the hospital most patients have managed to accumulate over $10,000 worth of expenses. For the average motorist driving without auto insurance, this is a significant percentage of their annual income.
4. Damages to personal and public property. While some accidents don’t result in damage to anything other than the vehicles involved, the cost of repairing the buildings, street lights, guardrails and other properties that may be involved in an accident can be astronomical. Auto insurance takes the majority of this expense on their shoulders.

What About Uninsured Motorist Insurance?

Many drivers without auto insurance foolishly assume that anyone they are going to be involved in an accident with is going to carry uninsured motorist insurance-insurance that will help pay their expenses if they are involved in an accident with a driver without insurance. The trouble with this assumption, however, is that most drivers with insurance assume that any other driver they are going to have an accident with is going to have insurance as well. Therefore, they aren’t going to bother adding uninsured motorist insurance to their policy-and only a small handful of states require it.

Any driver driving without auto insurance could find themselves left holding the bag for hundreds of thousands of dollars following an accident. Most drivers pay less than $2000/year for their auto insurance. The expense more than

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