Request By:
Hon. Benjamin J. Lookofsky
Graves County Attorney
Graves County Courthouse
Mayfield, Kentucky 42066
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Joseph R. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in response to your letter dated December 28, 1978, in which you inquire whether the driver of a motor vehicle which does not belong to him can be given a citation for failure to maintain the required security found in KRS 304.39-080(5) or whether the citation should be given only to the owner of the vehicle.
KRS 304.39-080(5) provides that the owner of a motor vehicle registered or operated in Kentucky must maintain security for the payment of basic reparation benefits and for the payment of tort liabilities. The amounts of such security are found in KRS 304.39-020 and KRS 304.39-110. However, the above requirement puts a duty on the owner only to acquire the minimum basic insurance coverages and makes no mention of the operator.
KRS 189.636 provides as follows:
If in the investigation of any motor vehicle accident or traffic violation it appears that any vehicle involved therein is uninsured, the law enforcement officer making the investigation shall issue a citation to the owner of the vehicle requiring such owner to appear in a court of proper jurisdiction for violation of KRS 304.39-110. (Emphasis added).
KRS 304.39-085(1) only requires an owner to affix the sticker evidencing the required insurance coverage to the car window.
In the entire Subtitle 39 of KRS Chapter 304, there is only one reference to the operator. This is found in KRS 304.39-085(12) which states as follows:
All state, city and county police officers shall issue a citation for violation of this section to the owner or operator of any vehicle which has neither a current sticker or emblem affixed thereto or a temporary certificate or affixed thereto or a temporary binder of insurance as required by this section. (Emphasis added).
However, the penalty section found in KRS 304.99-060 contains no provision whatsoever which punishes an operator. It merely provides for the imposition of a fine and suspension of license plates of only the owner upon conviction for his failure to maintain the required insurance coverage. Even though KRS 304.39-085(12) authorizes the issuance of a citation to an operator, the statute contains no penalty which can be levied against him. The issuance of a citation to an operator who is not also the owner of the motor vehicle in question would be an exercise in futility.