Missouri Senate Scales Back Uninsured Driver Crackdown

Missouri senators have scaled back an effort to force people to get car insurance by limiting how much uninsured drivers could collect in court.

A bill increasing the penalty for creating a fake insurance card received preliminary Senate approval on April 21. It needs another vote to move to the House.

Before voting, the Senate removed a section that would have barred uninsured drivers from collecting punitive damages in lawsuits filed over traffic accidents. Their damages would have been limited to actual costs such as vehicle repairs, medical expenses and lost wages.

Critics argued that lawmakers shouldn’t limit the authority of courts to determine the proper damages in a lawsuit.