This program offers them a unique opportunity to obtain the insurance they need to drive legally. California has an estimated 5.3 million uninsured vehicles, and 2.2 million to 3 million of these are in regular use.
Uninsured motorists face criminal penalties when they drive to work or job training.
Their neighbors face a higher risk of having no way to pay medical expenses after being hit by an uninsured motorist. There is a 25 percent surcharge if the person named on the insurance policy is an unmarried male between the ages of 19 and 24, or if an unmarried male between the ages of 19 and 24 lives in the policyholder's household and will be a driver of the insured automobile. The low-cost policy is only available to good drivers where the household income is 150 percent or less of the federal poverty line. The policy would satisfy California's financial responsibility laws, which require drivers to carry minimum amounts of third-party liability. We hope this pilot project will help convince the Legislature to expand the low-cost auto insurance program statewide in the future.