But drivers who carry their proof of insurance only electronically may find they are cited at a traffic stop for lack of documentation. Some agencies say they leave the decision of whether to accept digital proof of insurance up to the law enforcement officers.
When a New Mexican reporter was pulled over on N.M. 14, he presented his driver’s license and attempted to show the Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy his insurance card via smartphone. Sorry, the deputy said — the state of New Mexico doesn’t recognize electronic proof of insurance.
Actually, New Mexico’s statute regarding proof of insurance doesn’t include any language specifying a required format.
Or, as state police spokesman Sgt. Chad Pierce stated, “There’s no language pertaining to digital proof.”
And, he said, that “raises a few questions that officers have to deal with.”
New Mexico is just one of 13 states without laws that specifically allow digital proof of insurance, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade group for insurers. Most recently, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina and South Dakota began allowing digital proof.
Pierce said New Mexico State Police officers can use their discretion in deciding whether to accept it. The officer may even refuse the digital documentation if it takes a motorist too long to pull it up on a smartphone.
Pierce said state officers also have to consider personal safety and must be alert to the possibility that a motorist could be going for a gun rather than a cellphone during a traffic stop. There could also be a liability issue, he said, if the phone is damaged during the interaction between the officer and the motorist.
“It’s kind of confusing, isn’t it?” Pierce said.
In Santa Fe, city police will accept electronic proof of insurance, according spokeswoman Lt. Andrea Dobyns.
Dobyns said a city ordinance says drivers must have proof of insurance, but the ordinance doesn’t specify if the proof needs to be physical documentation or whether it also can be digital, so officers treat electronic proof the same as paper proof.
“I hope it’s not a problem,” she said while checking the agency’s policy. “It’s so much easier.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia said his department doesn’t have an established protocol for electronic proof of insurance. Deputies, he said, currently use their discretion.
Garcia said he can certainly see the benefit of the electronic proof, but he also expressed concerns. For example, he said, what happens if a motorist lends a vehicle to a friend and that person gets stopped? If the only copy of the insurance is on the owner’s phone, what happens to the friend? He also said some drivers might feel uncomfortable with officers taking the their phone back to a cruiser to verify the insurance.
“We do need a clarification,” he said. “It’s really something to look at.”
Garcia recommended motorists carry a physical copy of their insurance in their vehicle as a precautionary measure.
Since January 2013, Santa Fe Magistrate Court has reviewed 7,934 lack-of-insurance cases, 6,813 of which were dismissed. Of those dismissals, 5,207 citations were tossed because the motorist was able to show proof of insurance. That means 65 percent of the time, police issue citations to people with insurance. The numbers are similar statewide.
Magistrate courts statewide reviewed 85,047 lack-of-insurance citations, 40,549 of which were dismissed because the motorists proved they had insurance. It’s unclear how many of these motorists might have had digital proof of insurance.
Insurance companies, unsurprisingly, don’t have any issue with electronic proof of insurance. Major providers Allstate, Progressive and State Farm all took the same stance: Digital proof of insurance is often easier for consumers because most have their phones with them constantly.
If New Mexico clarified that digital proof of insurance is acceptable, an Allstate spokeswoman said, “it would be a win-win for everyone involved.”
The same spokeswoman said 39 states accept electronic proof of insurance.
Glenn Valdez, a defense attorney in Albuquerque who has represented clients cited for not having proof of insurance even though they had the electronic version on their mobile phones, said it all depends on the officer.
Valdez his clients are usually successful in getting the charges dismissed, but that can be a hassle.
“They’re obligated to dismiss the ticket,” he said.
The attorney said the problem could be corrected through legislative action, or through training at the law enforcement academies.
State Sen. John Sapien, an insurance representative for State Farm from Corrales, introduced a bill during this session (Senate Bill 476) that would allow electronic proof of insurance to satisfy state law. But it was stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A spokesman with Progressive Insurance said most states that allow electronic proof of insurance have done so through legislation.
Valdez said, however, he doesn’t believe such a bill would ever be a priority for New Mexico lawmakers. He said the better option involves the law enforcement academies across the state. If they taught new recruits to accept digital proof of insurance, the inconsistent enforcement would ultimately end, Valdez said.
“It’s just technology is developing at such a fast pace,” Valdez said. “Some officers don’t want to change the way they’re doing things.”
Jack Jones II, the director of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety’s Training and Recruiting Division, said he teaches his cadets to recognize digital insurance, but it’s up to individual agencies to enforce the law.
He added that the state’s other law enforcement academies are teaching their cadets to recognize digital insurance. And personally, Jones said, he has no problem with the trend.
“This is the age of technology,” he said. “Why not use it?”
©2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
