SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 1303

88TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES REYNOLDS (Sponsor), MAY (108), NAEGER,

LEVIN, GROSS AND FIEBELMAN.

Read 1st time January 24, 1996 and 1000 copies ordered printed.

DOUGLAS W. BURNETT, Chief Clerk

L1826.01I

AN ACT

To repeal sections 303.025 and 303.026, RSMo 1994, relating to motor vehicle financial responsibility, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to the same subject, with penalty provisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 303.025 and 303.026, RSMo 1994, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 303.025, 303.026 and 303.192, to read as follows:

303.025. 1. No owner of a motor vehicle registered, or required to be registered, in this state shall operate the vehicle, or authorize any other person to operate the vehicle, unless the owner maintains [the] financial responsibility as required in this [section] chapter. Furthermore, no person shall operate a motor vehicle owned by another with the knowledge that the owner has not maintained financial responsibility unless such person has financial responsibility which covers [his] that person's operation of the other's vehicle.

2. A motor vehicle owner shall maintain [his] the owner's financial responsibility in a manner provided for in section 303.160, or with a motor vehicle liability policy which conforms to the requirements of [the laws of this state] section 303.190.

3. Nothing in [sections 303.010 to 303.050, 303.060, 303.140, 303.220, 303.290, 303.330 and 303.370] this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting the department of insurance from approving or authorizing those exclusions and limitations which are contained in automobile liability insurance policies and the uninsured motorist provisions of automobile liability insurance policies.

4. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a class C misdemeanor and shall be fined at least one hundred dollars.

303.026. 1. The director shall inform each owner who registers a motor vehicle of the following:

(1) The existence of the requirement that every motor vehicle owner in the state maintain [his] financial responsibility for the owner's motor vehicles;

(2) The penalties which apply to violations of the requirement to maintain financial responsibility;

(3) The benefits of maintaining coverages in excess of those which are required;

(4) The director's authority to conduct samples of Missouri motor vehicle owners to [insure] ensure compliance.

2. No motor vehicle owner shall be issued registration for a vehicle unless the owner, or [his] the owner's authorized agent[,]:

(1) Signs a statement provided by the director of revenue at the time of registration of the vehicle certifying that such owner has and will maintain, during the period of registration, financial responsibility with respect to each motor vehicle that is owned, licensed or operated on the streets or highways[.];

(2) Presents a copy of a receipt or other appropriate document to the department of revenue, at the time the registration is renewed, that shows proof that financial responsibility for such vehicle was maintained during the previous year or, if the vehicle was owned by the registrant for less than one year, that financial responsibility was maintained during the period that the registrant owned the vehicle. If such proof is not supplied, the director may register the vehicle and the director shall initiate proceedings against the registrant for failure to maintain proof of financial responsibility as provided in section 303.041.

3. The director shall annually select for financial responsibility verification, a sample of the motor vehicle registrations or licenses which is statistically significant to determine the number of insured motorists in the state of Missouri, or to [insure] ensure compliance. The director may utilize a variety of sampling techniques including, but not limited to, the processing of uniform traffic tickets, point system warning letters, and random surveys of motor vehicle registrations.

4. Upon determination that the information provided by the owner or authorized agent is inaccurate, the director shall notify the owner of the need to provide, within thirty days, information establishing the existence of the required financial responsibility as of the date of such notice. Failure to provide such information shall result in the suspension of all registrations of the owner's motor vehicles failing to meet such requirements, as is provided in section 303.041.

303.192. Any insurer that issues motor vehicle liability policies in this state, as defined in section 303.190, shall inform the director of revenue if any motor vehicle liability policy issued in this state is cancelled by an insured, within thirty days of the cancellation. The insurer shall, also, notify the insured at the time of the cancellation that the insurer is required by law to inform the director of revenue of the cancellation and that the insured is required to show proof of financial responsibility for the prior registration period to the director at the time the insured renews the registration of the vehicle. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent an insured from cancelling a motor vehicle liability policy with one insurer and by purchasing another insurance policy from another insurer, or by other authorized means, maintaining proof of financial responsibility as required by this chapter.