Editorial: Community pays heavy price for uninsured drivers

Local law enforcement teams recently launched a night-time crack down on drivers who don’t buckle up. What they discovered instead were drivers speeding, driving under the influence and a disturbing number who didn’t have valid auto insurance.

In three days, Sumner police pulled over seven uninsured motorists. In a week, Puyallup police stopped 21 uninsured motorists. It may not seem like a huge number, but if you were involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist you probably would feel like one is too many.

According to the Insurance Research Council, about 18.5 percent of Washington drivers were uninsured in 2004, the last time information of this sort was compiled. The national average is 14.6 percent, making Washington ninth in the state for the number of uninsured motorists. Beyond the startling numbers, there’s an economic burden to motorists who are responsible enough to get insurance. The cost of under or uninsured motorists in Washington alone is $80 million a year.

We hope our East Pierce police forces will continue cracking down on these irresponsible motorists.