What is the fine for driving without a license with no insurance in Colorado?
I got a ticket for driving with out a license on a uninsured motorcycle.
DENVER – Uninsured motorists will face tough new penalties beginning Saturday if they are caught behind the wheel or are involved in an accident.
A law effective the first day of 2005 nearly quadruples the penalty for driving without insurance. Violators will earn a suspended driver’s license and a minimum $500 fine. Repeat offenders face a minimum $1,000 fine and a suspended license for up to eight months. “In the past, many uninsured motorists knew that the cost of insurance was more than the cost of the fine if they were caught,” said Gov. Bill Owens, who signed the new law earlier this year. “With this new law, I believe more Coloradans will recognize that it is no longer worth the risk to drive without insurance.”
The insurance industry estimates that 15 percent to 18 percent of Colorado motorists drive without auto insurance. The cost of paying for accidents caused by uninsured motorists drives up the cost of rates.
“We all know the frustration of being in an accident with an uninsured motorist,” said Carole Walker, head of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Center. “It’s been shown in other states that increasing fines goes a long way toward putting a dent in the uninsured motorist problem.”
Colorado’s new law is one of the strictest in the country, but it could take months or years to have an impact on the ranks of the uninsured and on premiums.