Under New Jersey law, all registered vehicles are required to have insurance. Insurance is mandatory not to put more money in the pockets of insurance companies, but to protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians in the event of an accident. When an individual is seriously injured in an accident and needs extensive medical treatment, they deserve to be duly compensated. In most cases, insurance proceeds are the only form of compensation available to accident victims.
3 Types of Mandatory Insurance in New Jersey
New Jersey requires all vehicles registered in the state to have three mandatory types of insurance:
- Liability insurance. This type of insurance provides monetary compensation for victims who are injured in an accident that you caused.
- Personal injury protection (PIP). This type of insurance pays medical expenses if you or anyone else who is covered under the policy is injured in a car accident.
- Uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist provides coverage if you are injured in an accident with another party who does not have proper insurance coverage.
What Happens If You Don’t Have Auto Insurance?
When you are pulled over for a moving violation or are involved in an accident, the first question that is often asked is to provide proof of insurance. What happens if you don’t have insurance and as such are not able to provide such proof? Under New Jersey law, if you are convicted of driving without automobile insurance, you may incur certain consequences, including:
- Loss of driver’s license for one year
- Pay fines in excess of $1,000
- Get sentenced to do community service
However, just because you were fined with driving without insurance, it does not mean that you are guilty. Below are five defenses to a charge of operating a vehicle without insurance:
- Your insurance policy was canceled without your knowledge or due to the failure of your agent to forward payment.
- You were driving a car owned by an individual visiting New Jersey or had recently moved to the state.
- You justifiably thought that you were insured under a policy owned by another member in your household.
- You were not truly “operating” the uninsured vehicle.
- You were never notified of your policy being canceled.
The bottom line is that if you were charged with driving without auto insurance, you should not automatically give up. Instead, you should hire an experienced attorney to investigate the facts of your case and help you determine what is the best plan of defense to dismissing, or at least reducing, the charges against you.
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For more information or to schedule a free consultation with New Jersey reckless driving attorney Dan Matrafajlo, please call the Law Offices of Dan T. Matrafajlo at (908) 248-4404.
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