CHAPTER 417
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 461
AS AMENDED BY
SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AND
HOUSE AMENDMENT NOS. 1 & 4
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 21, TITLE 21, DELAWARE CODE, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT OF INSURANCE FOR ALL MOTOR VEHICLES IN THE STATE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each House thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. Amend 52118 (j), Chapter 21, Title 21, Delaware Code, by striking subsection (j) in its entirety and by substituting in lieu thereof the following:
"(j) Every insurance company authorized to transact the business of motor vehicle liability insurance in this State shall file with the Insurance Commissioner as a condition of its continued transaction of such business with this State a
form approved by the Insurance Commissioner stating that its motor vehicle liability policies wherever issued shall be deemed to provide the insurance required by this section when the vehicle is operated in this state. A nonadmitted insurer may file such a form.
(1) A motor vehicle registration shall not be issued or renewed for any vehicle not covered by a vehicle insurance policy meeting the requirements of this Title.
(2) A motor vehicle owner shall, upon request of the Division of Motor Vehicles, offer proof of insurance in full force and effect as a condition of registration or continued registration of a motor vehicle. The Division of Motor Vehicles upon proof from its records or other sufficient evidence that the required insurance has not been provided or maintained for a motor vehicle shall immediately suspend the registration of such vehicle.
(3) Immediately upon notice of suspension of the registration of a vehicle, the owner shall return the registration plate and certificate to the Division of Motor Vehicles or produce proof of replacement insurance. Notice is complete upon the expiration of 4 days after deposit of such notice in the United States mail. No person shall possess or display a registration plate or certificate that has been suspended. Any person whose vehicle registration has been suspended under this subsection shall pay a fee of $50.00 at the end of such suspension for the return of the registration plate and certificate.
(4) 'Insurance Identification Card' shall mean a card issued by or on behalf of an insurance company or bonding company duly authorized to transact business in this State, stating in such form as the Insurance Commissioner may prescribe or approve that such company has issued a vehicle insurance policy meeting the requirements of this Title. The Insurance Commissioner shall require all insurance companies transacting such business within this State to provide with each vehicle insurance policy an insurance identification card for each vehicle describing the vehicle covered. Such card shall contain such information and shall be valid during such period as may be prescribed by the Insurance Commissioner. If an owner shall have filed a financial security deposit, or shall have qualified as a self-insurer, the term 'insurance identification card' shall mean a card issued by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner which evidences that such deposit has been filed or that such owner has so qualified.
(1) The Insurance Identification Card issued for a vehicle required to be registered under this Title shall at all times, while the vehicle is being operated upon a highway within this State, be in the possession of the operator thereof or carried in the vehicle and shall be produced upon the request of a police officer or Justice of the Peace or any other party involved in accident with the insured. However, an operator shall not be convicted under the provisions of this paragraph if, prior to conviction, he shall produce to the court in which the offense is to be tried, the insurance identification card or in lieu thereof other sufficient proof of insurance showing such insurance to be in full force and effect at all pertinent times when the motor vehicles is being operated within this State.
(1) The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles may adopt such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Title, as are necessary to enforce the provisions of this section."
Section 2. Amend §2118 (k), Chapter 21, Title 21, Delaware Code, by striking subsection (k) in its entirety and by substituting in lieu thereof the following:
"(k) Whoever violates any subsection of this section shall be fined for the first offense not less than $150.00 nor more than $1,000.00 and shall have his driving license and/or privileges suspended for three months. For each subsequent offense occurring within three years of a former offense, he shall be fined not less than $500.00 nor more than $2,000.00. The minimum fine levied for a violation of subsection (a) or (j) of this subsection shall not be subject to suspension.
at the time the insurance identification card is produced shall be presumptive evidence that such person is operating his vehicle without having insurance required by the provisions of this Title.
Notwithstanding the penalties specified above, anyone convicted of driving without minimum insurance as required in this section shall have his privilege of driving revoked in this State until
such time as he has furnished proof of insurance to the Division of Motor Vehicles."