Hialeah police to arrest drivers with fake insurance cards

Hialeah police are promising to arrest drivers caught with fake insurance cards during a one-day citywide crack down.

On Wednesday, every motorists stopped by an officer in Hialeah city limits from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. will be asked to show proof of insurance along with their driver’s license, the department announced on Monday.

Those caught with forged paperwork will be charged with a third-degree felony for carrying fraudulent proof of motor vehicle insurance.

The crackdown in necessary, said Detective. Eddie Rodriguez, a spokesman for Hialeah police.

“The National Insurance Crime Bureau has informed us of a disturbing rise in the use of fake auto insurance cards by South Florida drivers,’’ Rodriguez said. “These fake insurance cards have been like a ‘get-out-of-jail-free-card’ because it is very difficult for a police officer to verify insurance coverage during a routine traffic stop or crash.”

Not this Wednesday, Rodriguez said.

Officers will quickly uncover offenders by radioing the driver’s insurance card information back to a command center, where scores of insurance company representatives will be on hand to verify it.

Investigators from the following insurance companies will take part:

Allstate, Geico, State Farm, Travelers, GMAC, Ensurance, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Infinity, United Automobile Insurance Co., Sentry, Star Casualty, Kingsway, Direct General, Met Life, Allied, Titan and Victoria Insurance, Mercury and Gainsco.

The use of fake or fraudulent insurance cards adversely affects all drivers in Florida, police say.

Costs incurred during accidents involving uninsured motorists are eventually passed on to legal drivers, either through out-of-pocket expenses or higher insurance rates to recover losses, according to a department news release.

Find this article here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/26/2426124/hialeah-police-to-arrest-drivers.html#ixzz1ZArQIqhI