lydia.hoverson@mydakotan.com
BISMARCK – The North Dakota State Senate passed a bill Wednesday requiring all traffic violations be placed on a person’s driving record for any insurance company to see.
Current law makes an exception for traffic violations that result in the deduction of two points or less. House Bill 1417 would remove that exception.
“Without access to all driving violations, insurance companies are unable to properly rate and underwrite an insurance policy,” said Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dis. 37, Dickinson. “This rewards drivers
with bad driving records and it penalizes drivers who have good driving records.”
Rummel said there are 151 total possible traffic violations and 55 of them are released to insurance companies upon request. He listed examples of the other 96 violations which include having an open container, driving on the wrong side of a highway, failure to yield and stop, no liability insurance, passing a school bus, and distracted driving.
“I was one of the nay votes, and it’s not because I try to be a bad driver,” said Sen. Doug Larsen, R-Dis. 34, Mandan. “The insurance companies want more information, and I would like to protect some of that information from just being given out. If there are dangerous activities that we’re not taking points away, that would take your driver’s license away, I think we should look at adjusting those. I think the insurance companies make a decent amount of money. I don’t think they’re going broke. I don’t think we need to give them more information.”
The bill passed by a vote of 36 to 10 and will be sent to the governor’s desk for consideration.
