What if I fail to maintain Financial Responibility in California?

If financial responsibility is not maintained:
•Registration of the vehicle will be subject to suspension (VC §4000.38). DMV will begin the process to suspend the registration of a vehicle if:
—DMV is notified that a liability policy has been cancelled and a replacement policy is not provided within 45 days.
—The registered owner fails to provide evidence of insurance within 30 days of a registration card being issued on a newly acquired vehicle.
—The registration is obtained by providing false evidence of insurance.
•The operator’s driving privilege may be suspended (VC §16070)—If the vehicle is involved in an accident and evidence of financial responsibility cannot be provided, the operator may lose his/her driving privilege for up to one year.
•The operator may be cited (VC §§16028b, 16028c)—Failure to provide evidence of financial responsibility when requested by a peace officer may result in a citation. DMV cannot clear or sign citations relating to financial responsibility. Only a court can clear or sign these citations.
•The vehicle may be impounded (VC §16029c)—Failure to provide evidence of financial responsibility may result in the vehicle being impounded, in addition to any fines.
•The operator/owner may be personally liable for damages—If the operator contributes to the cause of an accident and cannot provide evidence of financial responsibility, the operator and/or the owner may be forced to compensate the other party for any injuries or damages.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 4:43 pm and is filed under SR22 Laws California. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.