Tracy Warner flags an interesting motor vehicle law in a post entitled BMV changes. He links to a BMV press release stating that a motorist involved in an accident with more than $1,000 damage done to their vehicle must forward within 10 days a report of the accident to the BMV. The report must contain, among other things, the signature of the individual’s agent. This seems like a burdensome new development. If you don’t have a local agent, getting a signature from your insurance company then getting the document to the BMV within 10 days is something of a hassle — particularly when your main concern at that point is to get your car fixed.
But I’m trying to figure what this means in practice. The laws in question that the BMV is enforcing are IC 9-26-1-2(3) and IC 9-26-1-2.5. IC 9-26-1-2 was amended by HEA 1073-2005 (P.L. 210-2005), SECTION 51. Prior to the amendment in the 2005 legislative session, the reporting requirements were the same except that the motorist was required to provide a written report, including the signature of an insurance agent, to the Indiana State Police rather than the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Was anybody doing this? I’m pretty up on these things, and it certainly never would have occurred to me to file my own report with the state police that included an insurance agent’s signature. I would have figured hanging around until the police took their report would have been sufficient. At that point, I would have considered my involvement with the government complete with respect to the accident.
So, was the prior law not being enforced? Is there some provision that makes the police report sufficient even absent an insurance agent’s signature? Or were citizens routinely filing such reports on their own behalf?
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