Factors Affecting the Relative Incidence of Uninsured Motorists Claims

Abstract

Estimates of uninsured drivers in the United States hover around 15 percent (NAII, 1998). With extensive concern about insurance affordability and its effect on economic advancement (joint Economic Committee, 1998) and with expansion of U.S. compensation systems to other nations, consideration of factors that affect the extent to which drivers choose to insure or not is valuable. This article addresses the effect of enforcement mechanisms for purchase of required insurance on the degree to which drivers choose not to insure. Results indicate that higher levels of enforcement stringency relate to lower levels of uninsured drivers. Lower levels of poverty and populations living in metropolitan areas are also related to lower levels of uninsured drivers, while no-fault states are associated with higher levels of uninsured motorists.