LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Friday he will meet with Mexican and Canadian authorities next week to discuss problems tied to drivers who cross borders with phony insurance -- or no coverage at all.
"This is all about the safety on our highways," the commissioner said at a news conference. "Policies sold in one country can be worthless once you cross the border, so many truckers simply drive without insurance."
Commercial truck traffic is largely at issue. Mexican trucks have been banned from all U.S. roads outside a 20-mile border zone since 1982. The North American Free Trade Agreement allowed Mexican trucks and buses full access to U.S. roads beginning in 2000, but those changes were postponed.
President Bush said in 2001 that he would allow Mexican trucks access to all U.S. highways, and the Supreme Court ruled the administration can skip a lengthy environmental study and open U.S. roadways to the trucks as soon as it wishes.
Garamendi had no statistics on the number of accidents involving uninsured Mexican trucks, or the amount of insurance claims that go unpaid because drivers from another country lack coverage.
Garamendi will participate in two days of meetings in Mexico City in his role with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Possible proposals could include an insurance plan that would be portable from country to country. It wasn't clear how that insurance would be offered, or what it would cost.
The American Insurance Association, an industry group, has been urging Congress to revise NAFTA to permit insurance to cross the border. Mexican trucks coming into the United States must carry two policies, one for Mexico and one valid in this country.
Canada and the United States recognize each other's coverage.
"Under NAFTA, an 80,000-pound truck can cross the border but the 2-ounce insurance policy can't," said association Vice President David Snyder.
Nov. 20, 2009, 11:45 a.m. -- San Diego's web video news: Today's breaking major business events, economic, and financial announcements from the Daily Transcript/San Diego Source newsroom.
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