Uninsured Dallas Drivers To Be Towed Starting 2009

DALLAS (AP) – The City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday that will allow authorities to tow and impound the vehicles of uninsured motorists. A similar policy is already in place in several other Texas cities.

The council passed the ordinance 10-5. But it won’t go into effect until Jan. 1 since a statewide database of insured motorists probably won’t be in place until autumn, The Dallas Morning News reported in its online edition Wednesday.

The Corpus Christi Police Department began impounding the cars of uninsured drivers in February. One in three Nueces County drivers were uninsured compared to one in five statewide, Corpus Christi Chief Bryan Smith said at the time.

DeSoto was among the first Texas cities to tow uninsured motorists, a department spokesman said Wednesday. Drivers in that Dallas suburb can get their vehicles back once they show proof of insurance, but they can also have their vehicles towed home without the insurance, the spokesman said.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)