AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Is Indiana's No-Insurance License Suspension Statute Unconstitutional?

The Indianapolis Star article listed below says that Indiana's Bureau of Motor Vehicles is sending out reams of notices of potential license suspension relating to auto accidents going back to 2001. According to Indiana's statute, if you are in an auto accident (with a certain amount of damage) you have to prove that you were insured at the time of the accident. If you don't, your license will be suspended.

Here's the catch: You can't submit the proof, your insurance company must submit the proof. If your insurance company declines to do so (rightly or wrongly), your license is suspended.

Here's another problem with the law: you have no forum to show that you weren't in an accident at all. I have had a couple identity theft victim clients who received these notices to produce proof of insurance, and the client was never in the accident at all, it was the identity thief. One of my clients is in a wheelchair due to MS and can't drive at all.

A core concept of due process is that you have notice of the charges against you and an opportunity to refute the charges before an impartial decisionmaker. Indiana's law provides for notice, but no opportunity. For that reason, I think it is unconstitutional, but many people will suffer before the law is invalidated.

BMV may suspend licenses