MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Insurance

By: Senator(s) King, Kirby, Chaney, Farris

AN ACT TO AMEND THE MISSISSIPPI MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY LAW BY CREATING A NEW SECTION TO BE CODIFIED AS SECTION 63-15-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE EVERY MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATED IN THIS STATE TO HAVE AN INSURANCE CARD IN EACH MOTOR VEHICLE AS EVIDENCE OF MOTOR VEHICLE LIABILITY COVERAGE; TO PROVIDE FOR THE FURNISHING OF SUCH CARD BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY; TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN VEHICLES SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENT OF MAINTAINING MOTOR VEHICLE LIABILITY INSURANCE; TO PRESCRIBE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 63-15-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 63-15-4, Mississippi Code of 1972:

63-15-4. (1) (a) Every motor vehicle operated in this state shall have an insurance card maintained in the vehicle as evidence of motor vehicle liability insurance in at least the minimum amounts required for proof of financial responsibility under Section 63-15-3, Mississippi Code of 1972. The insured parties shall be responsible for maintaining the insurance card in each vehicle.

(b) (i) An insurance company issuing a policy of motor vehicle liability insurance shall furnish to the insured an insurance card and shall furnish an insurance card for each vehicle at the time the insurance policy becomes effective.

(ii) One (1) insurance card must be furnished for each motor vehicle insured by the policy, and must have an expiration date clearly designated thereon to correspond with the expiration date of the policy of motor vehicle liability insurance. Upon renewal of the policy, the insurance company shall furnish to the insured parties a replacement insurance card with the expiration date of the renewal policy for each insured motor vehicle.

(2) The issuance of a policy, or an insurance card as required in this section, is not a warranty or a guarantee by an insurance company or agent that the policy will remain in force and effect and shall not create liability on the part of the insurance company or agent for any policy that has been terminated or canceled.

(3) Every peace officer, driver's license examiner or other authorized agent or officer of the department, and other law enforcement officers authorized to inspect drivers' licenses or investigate motor vehicle accidents may inspect the insurance card required under this section or investigate the reason for the lack of such insurance card in any motor vehicle traveling on a public road or highway.

(4) Failure to maintain an insurance card in each vehicle as required under this section or fraudulent use of an insurance card is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00). A second offense within a period of two (2) years from a prior offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00). A third offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00). Upon conviction of a third offense, the Commissioner of Public Safety shall suspend the driver's license of such person for one (1) year. In prosecutions for violations of this section, the court shall discharge the defendant and dismiss the proceedings against him upon a showing that the defendant has obtained an insurance card as required in this section.

(5) The requirements of this section and the penalties provided herein are in addition to and not in lieu of the requirements and penalties as otherwise provided by this chapter.

(6) The following vehicles are exempt from the requirement of subsection (1) of this section:

(a) Vehicles exempt by Section 63-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972;

(b) Vehicles for which a bond or a certificate of deposit of money or securities in at least the minimum amounts required for proof of financial responsibility is on file with the department;

(c) Vehicles that are self-insured under Section 63-15-53, Mississippi Code of 1972;

(d) Vehicles that are both registered to and operated by nonresidents, except for those vehicles that are primarily operated in this state; and

(e) Implements of husbandry.

SECTION 2. Section 63-15-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-15-3. The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

(a) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety * * *, acting directly or through its authorized officers and agents * * *.

(b) "Insurance card" means a card or like document issued by an insurance company as evidence of motor vehicle liability insurance pursuant to Section 63-15-4, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(c) "Highway" means the entire width between property lines of any road, street, way, thoroughfare, or bridge in the State of Mississippi not privately owned or controlled, when any part * * * is open to the public for vehicular traffic and over which the state has legislative jurisdiction under its police power.

(d) "Judgment" means any judgment which is final by expiration, without appeal, of the time within which an appeal might have been perfected, or by final affirmation on appeal, rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state or of the United States, upon a cause of action arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of any motor vehicle, for damages, including damages for care and loss of services, because of bodily injury to or death of any person, or for damages because of injury to or destruction of property, including the loss of use thereof, or upon a cause of action on an agreement of settlement for such damages.

(e) "License" means any driver's, operator's, commercial operator's, or chauffeur's license, temporary instruction permit or temporary license, or restricted license, issued under the laws of the State of Mississippi pertaining to the licensing of persons to operate motor vehicles.

(f) "Motor vehicle" means every self-propelled vehicle (other than traction engines, road rollers and graders, tractor cranes, power shovels, well drillers and implements of husbandry) which is designed for use upon a highway, including trailers and semitrailers designed for use with such vehicles, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead wires but not operated upon rails.

For purposes of this definition, "implements of husbandry" shall not include trucks, pickup trucks, trailers and semitrailers designed for use with such trucks and pickup trucks.

(g) "Nonresident" means any person who is not a resident of the State of Mississippi.

(h) "Nonresident's operating privilege" means the privilege conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of Mississippi pertaining to the operation by him of a motor vehicle, or the use of a motor vehicle owned by him, in the State of Mississippi.

(i) "Operator" means any person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle.

(j) "Owner" means a person who holds the legal title of a motor vehicle; if a motor vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease * * * with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee or if a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor is the owner for the purpose of this chapter.

(k) "Person" means a * * * person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation.

(l) "Proof of financial responsibility" means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of said proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle, in the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) because of bodily injury to or death of one (1) person in any one (1) accident, and subject to the limit for one (1) person, in the amount of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) because of bodily injury to or death of two (2) or more persons in any one (1) accident, and in the amount of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one (1) accident.

(m) "Registration" means a certificate or certificates and registration plates issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the registration of motor vehicles.

(n) "State" means any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any province of the Dominion of Canada.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2001.