In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to lower the civil penalty for a lapse in financial responsibility (Insurance) in lieu of serving a registration suspension.

Under current law, Pennsylvania requires that all motor vehicle owners maintain insurance on a currently registered vehicle. PennDOT has the authority to suspend the registration of a vehicle for a period of three months if it is determined that insurance was not secured as required, or if the owner or registrant has operated or permitted the operation of the vehicle without required insurance. Instead of serving the registration suspension, an owner or registrant may pay a $500 civil penalty to PennDOT and furnish proof of insurance to reinstate the owner’s operating privilege or vehicle registration.

At a time when inflation is so high, Pennsylvanians have often been forced to pay their insurance bi-annually or quarterly, which has led to many making the simple mistake of being unaware that their insurance has lapsed. As in the most common occurrence, where autopay is linked to a credit card and the card expires unbeknownst to the owner. A $500 fine seems extremely excessive for such an oversight.

My legislation simply lowers the civil penalty from $500 to $100 in lieu of serving a registration suspension. $500 is the equivalent to paying 10 years of registration fees for a passenger car. Our constituents are paying this exorbitant fee, in addition to a restoration fee that accompanies this penalty. Many of our constituents do not have the funds available to pay the associated costs out of pocket, thus leaving them without the ability to operate their vehicle entirely. Our constituents should not be punished with a ridiculous fee for making a simple mistake.

I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation that will help to ease the punishment on our constituents for making a simple mistake.