Why Is Liability Auto Insurance Mandatory?

Consider this: you’re driving along a rural road to visit mom and dad, the same road you learned to ride your first bike and drive your first car on. It’s twilight, and the sun is setting just so that the light is blinding. Out of nowhere, a deer comes leaping out of the foliage and into your lane, you swerve to the right to avoid hitting her. In so doing, you drive all over your parents’ neighbor’s prize-winning begonias, the begonias she has won first prize for every year since 1998, as she is constantly reminding your mother. Even though you saved the deer, your neighbor swears you have ruined her life.

Though liability auto insurance won’t deliver her first prize for 2016, it does cover property damage, and protects you from being sued by your parents crazy, flighty divorcee of a neighbor, Linda. (The same neighbor who used to complain about your parents’ choice of twinkle lights to the Homeowner’s Association). Can you imagine if liability auto insurance hadn’t been mandatory in your state? Hello, lawsuit.

Coverage that Keeps You Safe

One part of adulthood that everyone seems to agree on? Paying bills stinks. Sure, a lot of us can go without cable (thank you, Hulu), but by state law, none of us can go without liability auto insurance. In retrospect, this is actually a great thing. More often than not, if we don’t have to pay for something, we don’t. How many of us are guilty of using our ex’s HBOGO password to catch up on the latest “Game of Thrones” episode? Now, you may think that state laws requiring us to carry insurance is a little too Big Brother-esque, but the reason for it is to protect us against the crazies out there.

Liability auto insurance, required in one form or another in every state (save for New Hampshire) protects you when you are at fault in an accident. If you’re unwilling to pay for your own HBOGO account, are you really okay with having to pay thousands of dollars for property damage and medical aid when you’re involved in a collision? Generally speaking, the answer is presumably no. But look at it this way: liability auto insurance is a financial security blanket.

Let’s get back to your parents’ psycho neighbor, Linda. Linda is now threatening to sue you for damages and psychological duress. Her begonias were all that she had, and you annihilated them to save that flea-invested, mutant rat of the forest (her words, of course). Without insurance, you’re going to have to pay restitution out of pocket. But with liability auto insurance, damages and medical for the victim are paid for. Linda may stamp her feet and ball her fists, but now she has no reason to sue, because you followed the rules, and protected yourself in the case of an accident that was your fault. Now the only thing left to do is warn your parents about their unhappy neighbor. That should be fun.

Finding insurance coverage that meets your driving needs and your state’s requirements can be a hassle, but at CoverHound, we make it easy. Compare insurance quotes now.