Whenever a person furnishes proof of liability insurance, or surrenders or has his registration or license tags confiscated for failure to produce proof of insurance, after the Department of Motor Vehicles receives notice of the lapse or termination of the required liability insurance, the department shall compare the effective date of the lapse or termination with the date of the proof of insurance or the date of the confiscation or surrender. If the department determines there was a lapse in the required coverage the department shall assess, in addition to other fines or penalties imposed by the law, a per diem fine in the amount of five dollars. The department shall collect and keep this fine to defer the costs of the financial responsibility program. The fine provided for in this section and the two hundred dollar reinstatement fee pursuant to Section 56-10-240 of the 1976 Code must not be assessed if the person furnishes proof, as documented by his sworn statement, that the motor vehicle upon which the coverage has lapsed or been terminated has not been operated upon the roads, streets, or highways of this State during the lapse or termination, and the lapse or termination is due to military service or illness as documented by a signed physician's statement. The total amount of the fine provided for in this section may not exceed two hundred dollars for a first offense.

HISTORY: 1989 Act No. 148, Section 36; 1990 Act No. 324, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1480.