Driver's license not needed to buy car insurance

Q: I've noticed an ad in two or three of the local shoppers that says, in English and Spanish, no driver's license is required when buying car insurance. Is this not illegal? Even if it's not illegal, how would a person's driving record be accessed without a driver's license, for rating purposes?

A: Surprisingly, it's not illegal.

According to Molly DeFrank, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Insurance, the law does not even address the issue.

Apparently that makes it legal by default.

But maybe it's also legal by design. Someone might have figured it's better if unlicensed drivers at least have insurance.

Lt. John Buckland, head of the Yuba City Police Department's traffic division, said it's unusual to stop a driver who has insurance but no license. Usually they have neither, he said.

Proof of insurance is required when registering a car, but not when getting a license, he said.

Buckland said Yuba City police stop 40 to 50 unlicensed drivers per month. About three-fourths are undocumented aliens, he said.

The same ad mentioned by the reader also says tickets, accidents and DUI convictions are no barrier to getting insured.

One has to wonder about the cost and coverage of one of those policies.

Q: Once again this year, three different phone books plopped onto doorsteps of homes and apartments in Yuba City — all unsolicited and in many cases unwanted. Are there any laws against this?

A: Unfortunately, no. That's according to Jackie Sillman, recycling coordinator for Yuba-Sutter Disposal Inc.

The first one to arrive, and the most comprehensive, is AT&T's, which includes white page listings for Yuba, Sutter, Butte, Nevada and Sierra counties.

One of the next ones has listings for Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties, which at least adds to what the AT&T book offers. The other one advertises listings only for Marysville, Yuba City, Wheatland and Live Oak.

All three books have lots of ads, of course, often with pictures of lawyers pointing their fingers at the camera and promising to get really tough on your behalf.

Sillman said the unwanted books can at least be recycled in YSDI's blue containers.

YSDI doesn't offer recycling to the area's many apartment dwellers, so a lot of those books must end up in landfills.

For anyone who's really serious about not getting three books when just one would do, Sillman suggested calling the publishers' phone numbers in the unwanted books.

That may be one way to save a tree or two and fight global warming.

Since You Asked is published Tuesdays. Send questions to reporter Rob Young at the Appeal-Democrat, P.O. Box 431, Marysville CA 95901, e-mail him at ryoung@appeal-democrat.com or call 749-4710.