OAI: Bills Would Allow for Proof of Auto Insurance on Mobile Phones

Bills currently circulating in the California and Arizona legislatures would eliminate the need for drivers to carry hard copies of car insurance cards in their vehicles, according to OnlineAutoInsurance.com.

Instead of being required to provide an actual card showing proof of car insurance in Arizona or California, drivers in those states would be able to rely on an electronic form of proof on their smartphones.

In California, insurers would actually be required to supply policyholders with proof of a policy to their smartphones if requested, and the Department of Motor Vehicles would do the same for electronic versions of registration documents.

Motorists in California and Arizona are required to furnish proof of coverage when stopped by a police officer or when they get into an accident.

In Arizona, failure to do so is considered a traffic violation punishable by a $500 fine and a three-month suspension of registration and driving privileges, although the charges will be dropped if the driver later proves that he or she was insured at the time of the citation. In California, the penalty is between $100 and $200, and the car can be towed if police cannot verify coverage.

The California bill was barely introduced on February 15, but the Arizona bill has already gotten the approval from the House Transportation Committee.

Source: http://www.azleg.gov/

The author of the Arizona legislation has also submitted a bill for consideration that would allow motorists to use an electronic version of their driver's license displayed on their phone instead of relying on a hard copy.

Neither of the bills' authors has said what happens if a person who relies on the electronic forms of these documents is pulled over when their phone's dead.

For more on this and other insurance issues, go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/arizona/ to get access to informative resource pages and a helpful rate-comparison generator that can be used to find the lowest rates quickly.