Soon all Virginia drivers must have car insurance

RICHMOND, Va. (DC News Now) — Starting in three months, all Virginia drivers will need to have car insurance to register their vehicle with the DMV.

Starting July 1, every Virginia driver will have to be insured after Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Senate Bill 951 in 2023. The new law takes away the option to register an uninsured car by paying the $500 uninsured motor vehicle fee.

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This new law will impact thousands of Virginian drivers. According to the DMV, over 6,000 Virginians pay that $500 fee to drive uninsured out of the 8 million registered vehicles.

A 2022 DMV report showed that there were over 122,000 crashes on Virginia roads that year; A 3.3% increase over 2021.

One insurance expert stressed that the new law will give people better protection if they do get into a crash

“Perhaps it will lower the amount of frequency that we see people out driving without insurance because now there is just no way around it. there is no okay you can do this and you don’t have to have it, it’s no you have to have it because it is important,” Tom Brown said.

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Experts suggest to drivers start shopping for car insurance sooner than later.

Drivers who get caught driving uninsured or who have not paid the $500 uninsured motor vehicle fee will have their drivers license and car registration suspected and pay a $600 fee.

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