Thousands of uninsured drivers on Indiana roadways - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Thousands of Indiana drivers are paying for car crashes that aren't their fault and the problem is getting worse.

If you're involved in a car crash in Indiana, there's a bigger chance now that the other driver has no insurance.

"She was in a wreck and had some real legal problems," said one driver.

"My sister was in an accident just last week with an uninsured driver," said another.

So far this year, over 221,000 Hoosier drivers had their licenses suspended for not having car insurance. That's up 50,000 drivers from the same nine-month period last year.

"He had no insurance, he was suspended, he was still driving, he rear-ended me," says Matthew Hess. "Then he took off."

Some lawmakers think one reason for the rise in uninsured drivers is the tight economy. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles says the state's more efficient way of tracking people without insurance helps, too.

No matter, it costs anyone who has insurance.

"Your insurance company is now going to have to pay some of that bill," Hess said. "It ended up costing me $2,000 (out of pocket)."

Caught driving without insurance and your license is suspended 90 days. To get it back, you must show you've got insurance. But State Senator James Merritt, who has worked on car insurance issues for a decade, says, "A lot of times, I think people walk out of there and cancel their insurance six months or six minutes later. It's unacceptable."

Merritt says anyone suspended for no car insurance should be required to get a special high-risk insurance policy. If they cancel that, the company must tell the BMV, which will suspend the driver's license within 10 days. He will raise that in the legislature next session.

"If we're going to demand people have insurance, then everyone should have insurance," Merritt said.