1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to motor vehicles; requiring that mailings of
1.3 	random sampling to verify insurance coverage must be
1.4 	by certified mail with evidence of delivery;
1.5 	prohibiting Department of Public Safety from
1.6 	suspending driver's license on grounds that driver
1.7 	failed to respond to commissioner's request for proof
1.8 	of insurance unless commissioner possesses evidence of
1.9 	delivery; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section
1.10 	169.796, subdivision 3.
1.11 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.12 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 169.796,
1.13 	subdivision 3, is amended to read:
1.14 		Subd. 3.Sampling to verify insurance coverage.  (a) The
1.15 	commissioner of public safety shall implement a monthly sampling
1.16 	program to verify insurance coverage.  The sample must annually
1.17 	include at least two percent of all drivers who own motor
1.18 	vehicles, as defined in section 168.011, licensed in the state,
1.19 	one-half of whom during the previous year have been convicted of
1.20 	at least one vehicle insurance law violation, have had a
1.21 	driver's license revoked or suspended due to habitual violation
1.22 	of traffic laws, have had no insurance in effect at the time of
1.23 	a reportable crash, or have been convicted of an alcohol-related
1.24 	motor vehicle offense.  No sample may be selected based on race,
1.25 	religion, physical or mental disability, economic status, or
1.26 	geographic location.
1.27 	(b) The commissioner shall request each vehicle owner
1.28 	included in the sample to furnish insurance coverage information
2.1 	to the commissioner within 30 days. The request must be made by
2.2 	certified mail with proof of delivery.The request for
2.3 	insurance coverage information must require the owner to state
2.4 	whether or not all motor vehicles owned by that person were
2.5 	insured on the verification date stated in the commissioner's
2.6 	request.  The request may require, but is not limited to, a
2.7 	signed statement by the owner that the information is true and
2.8 	correct, the names and addresses of insurers, policy numbers,
2.9 	and expiration or renewal dates of insurance coverage.
2.10 	(c) The commissioner shall conduct a verification of the
2.11 	response by transmitting necessary information to the insurance
2.12 	companies named in the owner's response.
2.13 	(d) The insurance companies shall electronically notify the
2.14 	commissioner, within 30 days of the commissioner's request, of
2.15 	any false statements regarding coverage.
2.16 	(e) The commissioner shall suspend, without preliminary
2.17 	hearing, the driver's license, if any, of a vehicle owner who
2.18 	falsely claims coverage, who indicates that coverage was not in
2.19 	effect at the time specified in the request, or who fails to
2.20 	respond to the commissioner's request to furnish proof of
2.21 	insurance.  The commissioner shall comply with the notice
2.22 	requirement of section 171.18, subdivision 2. The commissioner
2.23 	may not suspend a driver's license under this paragraph for
2.24 	failure to respond to the commissioner's request for proof of
2.25 	insurance unless the commissioner possesses evidence of delivery
2.26 	of the request from the United States Postal Service.
2.27 	(f) Before reinstatement of the driver's license, there
2.28 	must be filed with the commissioner of public safety the written
2.29 	certificate of an insurance carrier authorized to do business in
2.30 	the state stating that security has been provided as required by
2.31 	section 65B.48.  The commissioner of public safety may require
2.32 	the certificate of insurance provided to satisfy this
2.33 	subdivision to be certified by the insurance carrier for a
2.34 	period not to exceed one year.  The commissioner of public
2.35 	safety may also require a certificate of insurance to be filed
2.36 	with respect to all vehicles required to be insured under
3.1 	section 65B.48 and owned by any person whose driving privileges
3.2 	have been suspended as provided in this section before
3.3 	reinstating the person's driver's license.
3.4 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective March 1, 2005.