central louisiana politics attempts here and here to take this blog to task because of our adamant opposition to any and all attempts at raising the premiums for mandatory vehicular insurance.
according to statemaster.com the total number of licensed drivers in louisiana is: 3,119,960. statemaster.com's source is the u.s. department of transportation, federal highway administration, highway statistics, washington, dc for 2004 - so this number is prekatrina and rita.
according to a new orleans times-picayune article here [insurance] "industry officials say house bill 1312 by rep. erich ponti, r-baton rouge will trigger premium increases for 1.5 million drivers who can barely afford the current costs." presumably this figure will also apply to rep. chris roy, jr.'s hb1291.
so, 1,500,000 divided by 3,119,960 = 48% now remember the three million number is prehurricanes and the percentage today is probably higher than 48% -- so this means that when you're driving around, about one out of two cars that you see have the mandatory minimum vehicular insurance.
do you really want to see any amount of that percentage driving around without any insurance whatsoever, because ignorant ass louisiana politicians raised their premiums during a time of severe economic stress, forcing them to drop their insurance -- just so a pack of trial lawyers can make a few more dollars?
