You need to review Mr. Patterson's post of 02/08/2004. That post formed the
root of this sub-thread, which is in fact about rights-of-way, not
automobile insurance.

Mr. Patterson made the statement: "if you are in violation of the laws or
regulations."

My broken tail-light example would have fallen under the parameters he
stated, so I felt no need to make the example a major felony.

But, in your insurance example, "fault" (actually liability) is normally a
fact determined by a court. There are a few exceptions, but a lack of
insurance is not one of them, to my knowledge...

"Saryon" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 15:53:38 -0600, "Bill Denton"
wrote:


Now consider this:

I am driving my car, and pull up and stop at a red traffic signal. The
driver behind me doesn't stop quickly enough, and breaks my tail light
window and bulb.

We quickly exchange license and information and return to our cars.

The traffic light turns green; can I proceed?

Let's look at the facts:

I have a green light, which grants me an explicit right-of-way through
the
intersection.

I have a totally non-functional tail-light on my car, which is generally
some violation of the motor vehicle code.

So, under Mr. Patterson's interpretation, I would never be allowed to
proceed through the intersection unless I had a mechanic come to the
intersection to repair my tail-light.

Obviously, this would be silly, and it's not correct.

Actually, I believe what Mr. Patterson is saying is that by the pure
fact that you do not have a NJ Auto Insurance policy in effect at the
time you are driving, any accident that you get into is automatically
considered your fault because you are illegally operating the vehicle
on public roads to begin with.

Under your facts, it's not illegal per-se for you to be operating the
vehicle with a broken tail light, it's an equipment violation that can
get you cited by the police until such a time as you get the vehicle
repaired.

That having been said, all I can find on New Jersey's DMV site
regarding insurance is:
( http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/cit_insur..._required.html )

"Required Documents
Your insurance company must give you a New Jersey Insurance
Identification Card for each vehicle under the policy.

You must keep the card in the vehicle and present it:

before inspection

when involved in an accident

when stopped for a traffic violation

when police officers stop you in a spot check
Failure to present the card may result in fines.
Driving an uninsured vehicle may result in fines, community service,
license suspension, and insurance surcharges."

However, I must admit that I haven't had the time to do any case
research into accidents involving uninsured drivers in NJ or any
legislation search for fault assessment. Someone who actually lives
in NJ would likely be better for that anyway as they may have a cite
off the top of their heads..

Luck.