A deal with camera maker Gatso USA and Oklahoma’s District Attorney Council mean if you drive without insurance in the state of Oklahoma, your days may be numbered.
It’s the law in all states that you simply can’t be driving around uninsured, but people have all sorts of reasons they do it anyways. According to Fox on their report earlier today (Nov.21,2017) not only will some special cameras make sure that uninsured drivers get caught, they’ll be sent a fine automatically in the mail. In a deal signed by the District Attorney’s Council earlier last week with a Massachusets based camera company that specializes in catching drivers breaking the law, cameras will be set up all around the state in major thoroughfares to catch those that are driving dirty.
The program is called the Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Diversion Program which aims to do exactly what the title says. The camera company proposes that by next year when the cameras are switched on, more than 20,000 motorists will be caught and sent a ticket on a monthly basis.
While it’s no cost to the state to set up the cameras, Gatso USA will get $80 of each fine for the first two years and then $74 of each fine for the years after that. According to their estimates, Gatso USA will get about $1.7 million a month. Presumably, the program will pay for itself within a couple of years.
No one likes being involved with an uninsured driver. If an uninsured driver hits you, you’ll most likely have to pay for all the damages done to your car and medical expenses you incur with no remedy for relief from the offending driver or the state.
Although I’m sure that the state of Oklahoma would like to keep this program in-house and deal with the problem themselves, if this eases the duties of some police officers on patrol, it might be worth the investment.
These cameras may be a blessing in disguise for some motorists. Normally, you would’ve gotten a tick on your record stating that you were driving without insurance. If you pay the fine and actually get insurance, your record stays scott-free. And in the event you get into an accident, hey, you at least have insurance.
