Cape Coral Cracks Down on Drivers without Insurance

March 23, 2015

Representatives from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the local police department, and 17 state and national auto insurance carriers conducted an insurance crackdown in Cape Coral, Fla. on Tuesday, March 17. More than 35 police officers split into three groups, all on the lookout for uninsured motorists and motorists with fraudulent insurance.

The officers pulled over speeders and drivers not wearing their seatbelts, and then checked whether they had valid proof of insurance in hand. Drivers who were stopped for speeding or being unbuckled, but had valid paperwork available, could be let go with a warning. At the end of the day, officers had given out 230 written warnings and 68 uniform traffic citations, 15 of which were for no proof of insurance.

“We try to do an operation like this at least once a year,” Cape Coral Police Department spokesman Sgt. Dana Coston said. While the officers pulled over drivers, the NICB and dozens of insurance representatives were back at the police station, working directly with the officers to verify coverage.

A common scheme, Sgt. Coston explained, is for an individual to apply for auto coverage, get the paperwork, cancel the insurance, and then use the now-invalid insurance card as proof of coverage. Officers usually have to rely on state data, which is often outdated, to verify coverage, but because officers had “real time” access to insurance representatives on Tuesday, they could confirm on the spot if the insurance coverage was valid.

Sgt. Coston was heartened by the results of the day’s work. “Seeing that [only] about 5 percent of the drivers had any type of problem when stopped today is very encouraging. That’s probably one of the highest rates of compliance we’ve seen in years.”

Coston went on to explain that, because it is likely that at least some of those ticketed will show up in court with their missing paperwork, “the rate of compliance is actually even higher than the 95 percent we saw today.”

As for those who continue to drive without insurance or with fraudulent insurance? “They’ll get caught eventually, it’s just kind of rolling the dice,” said Cape Coral Police Sergeant Jon Kulko.

Cape Coral, Fla. is located on the Gulf Coast in Lee County, just south of Fort Myers.