BILLINGS (AP) — County treasurers will soon begin using a new computer system to verify whether people have liability insurance on a vehicle when they license it or renew its registration.
Yellowstone County has been testing the Montana Insurance Verification System and Treasurer Max Lenington tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/T2Qbvh ) it works surprisingly well.
Counties will start using the system in January, but Motor Vehicle Division administrator Brenda Nordlund says no one will be denied registration or renewal until some issues are fixed. The issues include how to handle mail-in and online renewals, commercially insured vehicles and registration for people who move to Montana with policies that originated out of state.
The verification system is intended to help reduce the number of uninsured drivers.
Law enforcement agencies already are using the system.
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Not mentioned in the article is the fact that in 1997, Nevada cited more innocent people for no insurance than guilty ones. In Missouri, a 67 year old woman was thrown in jail because the database said she had no insurance. State Farm was contacted and confirmed the woman indeed had insurance and she was released from jail. I thought this kind of stuff only took place in Nazi Germany.