How to Protect Yourself From an Uninsured Driver

SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield woman is devastated after someone slammed into the back of her car, and then left the scene. She had just bought it, and was going to get insurance on it that day. Looking at pictures of her smashed in car brings tears to Leighvi Powell's eyes. "It's a struggle it really is they took away everything," said Lieghvi Powell. A single mom with two kids now has no way to get to work and had to quit her job. "Now I have to stuck here and tell my kids that we can't go to the park and get ice cream today. We don't have a vehicle," said Powell. It's a situation Tony Yancy hears all too often. "Daily. Within my agency there's seven days in a week I'm guessing maybe happens two or three times a week," said Yancy. He's been selling auto insurance for nearly 20 years. "Just because we have a mandatory insurance in the state doesn't mean everybody has insurance," said Yancy. And in Powell's case she had just bought the car and was going to get insurance that day, which is why we wanted to know how you can protect yourself. Yancy tells us if you just have liability insurance you need to ask your agent to add "uninsured motorist coverage" and "uninsured motorist property insurance." "Helps protect you where that nasty mishap may occur with a driver who doesn't have insurance or possibly that situation with hit and run," said Yancy. Yancy says it could save you from the heartache Powell is feeling now. "I gotta save up every little tiny penny that I do get to do it all over again. It's not fair, and they got away with it Scott free," said Powell. If you want that extra protection while on the roads Yancy says it'll cost you more about an extra 20-bucks every six months. Yancy tells us 17-percent of ohio's drivers don't have a license. That means for every six drivers you pass on the road one of them is driving illegally.