Driving without insurance

With talk about the election this week and the health insurance requirement that is part of Obamacare, it made me think about the time Dad skipped a government-mandated insurance requirement.

This was during Dad’s unemployment period. It went on for several months, and money was tight. Auto insurance in California was expensive, but required by law. Dad decided to save a few hundred dollars and not renew his plan when it expired.

And that led to many tense drives around town, where Dad would panic about being pulled over or being in an accident. As it turned out, he did end up getting into an accident, though it was one of those situations where the other driver hit him from behind yet it was still determined to be Dad’s fault. Dad was hit with some pretty big fines. Lesson learned. In later years, he always had car insurance.