One of the most basic requirements for legally driving in New Jersey is to carry insurance on one’s vehicle. That way, if someone causes a crash and leaves someone else seriously injured, the people affected by the collision won’t have to worry about covering the costs generated during the wreck.
Unfortunately, whenever there are rules, there will be a few people who intentionally or accidentally violate them. Uninsured drivers save a little bit of money by not paying for coverage, but they put everyone else on the road at risk of getting into a crash that may devastate their family finances.
New Jersey has the lowest rate of uninsured drivers
When the Insurance Information Institute looked at the number of people driving in each state and the policies written within those states, the two figures didn’t fully align. When assessing the data collected in 2019 specifically, New Jersey actually has the lowest number of uninsured drivers out of any state in the country. The data from 2019 shows that just over 3% of New Jersey drivers have lapsed or canceled insurance coverage. Therefore, only a small number of people have to worry about experiencing a collision for which they have no insurance coverage.
Despite the risk being relatively low when compared with some other states which may have more than 20% of drivers on the road without insurance at any given time, the risk is still a serious financial concern for the rare people affected by such crashes. Uninsured motorist protection can cover the gap when someone ends up hurt in a collision caused by another driver who failed to maintain insurance on their vehicle.
Additionally, New Jersey state law permits those affected by collisions to initiate civil litigation when they can show that either negligence or misconduct caused their losses. Filing a personal injury lawsuit is often the best possible response to getting hurt in a crash caused by an uninsured motorist in New Jersey.