HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAAY) - A loophole in the Alabama insurance law isn’t new, but it continues to frustrate drivers and law enforcement.

What happens is that drivers involved in accidents are showing law enforcement what looks like a valid insurance card, but later it’s found to not be. Law enforcement officials have no database to confirm the validity of cards when a driver is pulled over or involved in a crash.

“We constantly get calls — usually after the fact a person has been in a traffic collision — where the individual told the other driver did have insurance,” said Alabama State Trooper Curtis Summerville.

But in fact, they don’t. Such cases have become a growing problem, according to Summerville.

He said drivers are getting an insurance policy so they can get their vehicle registered. But days later they cancel the policy, usually right after their insurance card shows up in the mail.

“At this point we don’t have a system of running a persons insurance to see if they have valid insurance,” Summerville said.

The loophole has caused a lot of headaches for drivers like Stacy Garcia, who was sideswiped by another driver.

“He presented an insurance card to the trooper,” Garcia said.

But when Garcia’s insurance company tried work with the other driver’s insurance company, they found out the policy had been canceled. The card looked valid, but the policy was non existent.

“Now my car is being fixed via my insurance company when the accident was not my fault and I’m out a $500 deductible,” she said.

Garcia recently moved to the Tennessee Valley from Pennsylvania and said that something is very wrong when a driver can present an officer an invalid insurance card without being cited.

Gov. Bob Riley has been pushing for a solution to the problem for for the past eight years. He wants to get a database for insurance companies to report to-so law enforcement can double-check drivers.

“Had that been in place the night of my wreck, he would have been cited then and there, and had a little bit of justice served,” Garcia said. “Now there’s not much I can do.”

Drivers caught without auto insurance can be cited, which can cost between $200 and $600.
The law requiring drivers to have liability insurance was passed nine years ago.