Request By:
Hon. A. Jack May, Director
Department of Justice
Division of Legal Services
Bureau of Training
Box 608, E.K.U.
Richmond, Kentucky 40475
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Joseph R. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in response to your letter dated December 20, 1978, in which you inquire whether KRS 304.99-060 may be applied against nonresident motor vehicle owners who fail to have in full force and effect the insurance coverage required by KRS 304.39-080(5).
At the outset, it should be noted that all owners of motor vehicles who register their vehicles in Kentucky or operate their vehicles or permit their vehicles to be operated in Kentucky must obtain insurance for the payment of basic reparation benefits and for the payment of tort liabilities. KRS 304.39-080(5) makes this requirement a precondition for the privilege of operating a motor vehicle upon the streets and highways of this Commonwealth. The statute makes no distinction between residents and nonresidents. All owners of motor vehicles which are registered or operated in Kentucky must purchase the required insurance coverage, regardless of their place of residence.
KRS 304.39-085 requires that all owners of motor vehicles registered and operated in Kentucky must affix a sticker to the vehicle's window evidencing such security. As you have pointed out, as a rule nonresident motor vehicle owners will not display the required sticker even though they must maintain the required security in order to lawfully utilize Kentucky's roadways.
KRS 304.99-060(5) states that any person cited for failure to maintain the required security and display the sticker may exhibit to the trial court a written certificate executed by his insurer or its agent that on the date of the citation the required security was in effect and thereupon the action must be dismissed. To be on the safe side, a nonresident motor vehicle owner should make certain that a current insurance policy or binder is present in his motor vehicle while that vehicle is being driven in Kentucky by him or by anyone else with his express or implied permission.
The sticker or emblem which the motor vehicle owner is required to place in the car's window is only evidence that the owner has the required insurance coverage just like a binder or policy is evidence of such coverage. Of course, in any event a current policy or binder possesses more evidentiary weight than a sticker or emblem. The objective of the mandatory insurance requirement is to prevent uninsured vehicles from being operated on Kentucky roadways -- not to require all motor vehicles to display a sticker as an end in itself. Obviously, any motor vehicle owner who fails to maintain the required security must be cited for such violation irrespective of his domicile. Although a nonresident owner may be cited like a resident owner for failure to display the sticker and maintain the required security, both must be acquitted if they did in fact have the required security in full force and effect on the citation date.