STATE STILL HAS MANY UNINSURED MOTORISTS; 9.2% OF VEHICLES UNINSURED IN '97

Some Missouri drivers still don't buckle up with even the minimum liability insurance.

State records show that 356,000 of Missouri's 3.9 million registered passenger vehicles weren't insured for liability in 1997. Of every 11 registered vehicles, one was uninsured.

The number of uninsured vehicles rose from 7.2 percent in 1996 to 9.2 percent last year, reversing a downward trend from previous years.

The percentage is still below the 11 percent reported in 1994, said Missouri Department of Insurance spokesman Randy McConnell, whose agency compiles an annual report on uninsured vehicles.

Missouri had 87,000 more uninsured vehicles in 1997 than in the previous year, the report showed.

St. Louis continues to post the highest rate of uninsured passenger cars and trucks in the state. Thirty-five percent of vehicles registered in the city, or 60,397, didn't have liability insurance last year. That is up nearly 10,000 vehicles from 1996.

Pemiscot County in the Bootheel ranked second, with 24 percent of the 12,849 registered vehicles uninsured.

Several other Southeast Missouri counties also had double-digit percentages. In New Madrid, 14 percent were uninsured. Mississippi County checked in at 13.6 percent and Dunklin County 11 percent.

McConnell said the number of uninsured vehicles typically has been higher in counties with a large number of low-income residents.

But in 1997, the state's mid-sized metro areas, including the counties that are home to Columbia, St. Joseph and Jefferson City, experienced large increases in uninsured vehicles, he said.

One exception was Cape Girardeau County, McConnell said. Only 1.8 percent of the county's 44,507 registered passenger vehicles were uninsured. Percentage wise, that is up slightly over the previous year.

Cape Girardeau County had 822 vehicles that weren't insured in 1997 compared to 448 in 1996.

The Department of Insurance report matches insurance policy records and Revenue Department registration figures. The figures don't always match.

Vehicles don't have to be registered at the same address as listed for an insurance policy. As a result, some counties and cities show more liability insurance policies than vehicles, resulting in negative percentages.

In Southeast Missouri, Bollinger and Perry counties had more liability policies than registered vehicles.

Missouri Highway Patrol Lt. Chris Ricks said he doesn't believe there is a single county in the state where all the licensed vehicles are insured.

Ricks, assistant director of public information for the patrol in Jefferson City, said he believes the number of people driving without insurance is less than what the Insurance Department report suggests.

If nearly one out of every four vehicles in Pemiscot County was uninsured, state troopers in Southeast Missouri would be "screaming" about the problem, Ricks said.

"We are not hearing any screaming from our officers," he said.

Ricks said he believes the problem of uninsured motorists has lessened in Missouri. "I think the situation has improved immensely."

A state law that took effect last January should help, he said. Under the law, Missourians must produce proof of insurance to register their vehicles each year.

Missouri requires motorists to carry liability coverage of $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 total per accident for bodily injury and $10,000 per accident for property damage.

The majority of Missouri motorists carry more than liability coverage, McConnell said.

The Insurance Department report found that 68 percent of passenger vehicles also were covered by comprehensive insurance, which protects against property damage not caused by the driver; and 65 percent had collision policies, which insure against damage caused by the operator of the vehicle.

Insurance industry spokesman Calvin Call said uninsured motorists are less of a problem in Missouri than in many other states. Call is executive director of the Missouri Insurance Information Service in Jefferson City. The organization is a state trade association for insurance companies.

Call said Missouri's new law should further discourage motorists from driving without liability insurance.

Under the law, motorists face misdemeanor charges if they don't have proof of insurance when requested by law enforcement officers. But the law provides that motorists won't be convicted if they can show a judge that they had insurance coverage at the time in question.

Even with the new law, motorists continue to face the possibility of having their licenses suspended for 60 days to two years by the Department of Revenue under an administrative procedure.

The patrol's Ricks said some drivers won't obey the law, regardless of the penalties. Some people obtain insurance and then cancel it after getting their vehicle licensed, he said.

"We're still getting a lot of folks who are trying to slide by without it," said Ricks.

In fiscal 1998, the Department of Revenue suspended 19,504 people for driving without insurance. Of those, 8,555 were suspended after they were involved in traffic accidents.