California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses the importance of maintaining liability insurance in tough economic timesMy office has been swamped with accident victims who are not at fault in motorcycle, car, truck and other motor vehicle accidents, yet had no liability insurance at the time of the accident.

In California if you drive a motor vehicle such as a car, motorcycle, truck, etc., without basic liability insurance, you are precluded from recovering general damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc. (California Proposition 213)

In other words if you lose a leg, or become a quadriplegic, you will only be entitled to out of pocket expenses only if you drive without liability insurance. To add insult to injury, you could lose your license, have your car impounded, and face penalties from the State.

If you cannot afford liability insurance, there is a special program through the State of California to obtain cheap liability insurance. If you cannot get that, flat out don’t drive. It is not worth it.

My law firm is one of the few law firms that will represent accident victims throughout the State of California who did not have liability insurance at the time of the accident. We do not condone it, but we believe that everyone deserves a fair shake. We will do everything we can for you, even if you were an uninsured victim of a motor vehicle accident.

I am recommending that if you cannot afford liability insurance, you should use public transportation until you can. It is illegal to drive in the State of California without minimum liability insurance to cover you in case you are fault in an accident.

The flip side of the coin is that all California motorist should carry uninsured motorist coverage in an amount equal to what they would want to cover themselves for in case they are injured, to protect yourself from a person who is at fault in an accident against you, yet has no liability insurance.

Motorcycle riders should carry a minimum of 0,000.00, five hundred thousand dollars in uninsured motorist coverage because of the usually catastrophic injuries that result from motorcycle accidents.

By California Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

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7 Comments

  1. Tim

    In addition to NOT having liability insurance, your vehicle registration will be suspended by DMV and you will be unable to register your vehicle until you have proof of insurance. Includes annual registration renewals. Once in this suspended state, it will require one to pay an up front fine to DMV before they will reinstate the registration for proper road operation upon proof of insurance. Now you have people driving without insurance AND a suspended registration on the vehicle. Yikes!

    Reply
  2. gixxer32404

    500,000 coveragw???? Wouldn’t that cost like 10,000 a year???

    Reply
  3. gixxer32404

    ok, I think my full coverage on a sportbike is $1000+ a year, and I’m currently laid off.

    Reply
  4. gixxer32404

    I’m sure sportbikes have higher rates, just by looking at youtube.

    Reply
  5. Norman Gregory Fernandez

    No Gixxer, actually depending on your driving record it is quite inexpensive. Once you get full coverage with UM/BI, you will find that it does not cost that much more to increase your coverages per year.

    With the Internet you can shop around for the best prices now a days!

    Norm

    Reply
  6. Norman Gregory Fernandez

    Damm I am paying much less for a bike that is worth over 20k. Maybe the sportbike has something to do with your rate.

    It sucks that you are laid off man. Lot’s of people are hurting right now. Hang in there.

    Norm

    Reply
  7. laura

    yes, it is very inportant that you are a passenger on a motorcycle. and you get in accident before you get on that bike. make sure your rider has the right coverage. for you and him. just not the bike!!!
    i had to learn the very hard way. i have no health coverage, and he only coverage for his bike. he had his own health coverage through his job. i have two doctor’s have pulled me from the job that i miss and that i loved. and i am in this a by myself.

    Reply

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