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New CA Driving Law And Increased Min Coverage

minimum coverage

Get Ready For The New Rules!

If you’re a driver in CA, you may heard about the recent increase in the state’s minimum auto insurance coverage requirements that is currently taking place. While it might seem like a small adjustment, yet this type of change is significant. Understanding how it impacts you can help make better decisions about your insurance coverage.

Here at KAASS LAW, we strive towards a better understanding of new laws and regulations. Starting effectively on  January 1, 2025, there are up-to-date, new CA laws and even close-offs on loopholes that are taking place. The more you know and adapt to these rulings, the better you can be as a citizen in the state. This is an informative to understand how certain laws may proceed. 

Our goal at the firm is to reach out to our current and potentially new clients. The following will provide some changes and new rulings in the state of California. As always, please be safe and vigilant at all times. 

Senate Bill 11070: 

Minimum Liability Insurance has increased from:

  • $15,000 per person for bodily injury or death
  • $30,000 per accident for bodily injury or death
  • $5,000 for property damage

Starting in 2025, the limits will be:

  • $30,000 per person for bodily injury or death
  • $60,000 per accident for bodily injury or death
  • $15,000 for property damage

For the readers that aren’t familiar with these policies, these are the maximum limits you can get financially compensated on minimum coverage in the State of California. For instance, if another car, at fault, were to hit you, starting in the New Year, then you can only retrieve $30,000 in bodily injury. If someone else is in your car or there’s more than one passenger, then it would go up to $60,000 in total and not per person. Property damage is pretty self-explanatory. 

Why Increase Coverage?

To keep it simple, the cost of medical care and repairs has gone up over the years. In California, the cost of healthcare, vehicle repairs, and vehicle replacement parts have is rising. This means that the previous minimum coverage limits were no longer enough.

What Does This Mean?

1. Better Financial Protection 

This can help prevent you from being financially responsible for amounts that exceed your current coverage limits. This could otherwise lead to serious financial problems in the future.

2. Avoiding Financial Liability

Without enough coverage, you there is a risk of paying anything out-of-pocket for any remaining expenses.  This could have long-lasting financial consequences.

3. Higher Property Damage Coverage

This can prevent you from having to pay the full amount out of pocket.

Assembly Bill 413

This particular bill “prohibits the stopping, standing, or parking of a vehicle within 20 feet of the vehicle approach side of any unmarked or marked crosswalk or 15 feet of any crosswalk where a curb extension is present, as specified.” The goal of this bill is to allow drivers to get a better view of potential bystanders crossing the street. If another vehicle is parked too close to the curb, then the risk of collision increases. Even if the curb isn’t red, please keep a respectful distance from the crosswalk. 

Senate Bill 905

There was a loophole of breaking and entering that was only punishable when the doors of the vehicle were locked. Now, owners of the vehicle and or prosecutors don’t need to prove that it was locked but rather show that there was a forcible entry. This “bill would make it a crime for a person to unlawfully possess a property that was acquired through one or more acts of theft from a vehicle, unlawful entry of a vehicle, burglary of a locked vehicle, or vehicle tampering if the property is not possessed for personal use and the person has the intent to sell or exchange the property, or the intent to act with another person to sell or exchange the property…..”. 

Senate Bill 1100

In addition to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, “This bill would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to include a statement in various employment materials that an applicant must have a driver’s license unless the employer reasonably expects the duties of the position to require driving and the employer reasonably believes that satisfying that job function using an alternative form of transportation would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer, as specified.” In other words. Job postings cannot require job applicants to have a valid driver’s license unless the employer believes that the potential new employee has to drive to work. The employer would also need to reasonably believe that the applicant cannot use another form of transportation, i.e., walking, bicycling, taxi, Uber, Lyft, bus, etc. 

Contact Us

If you believe you are in need of legal assistance and or representation, KAASS LAW has a well experienced team and attorneys ready to help! Do not hesitate to contact us right away!

Once again, our goal is to better understand as California laws change throughout time. We always ask our clients and community to prioritize safety when behind the wheel or or as a bystander. If you ever got into a vehicle accident, here are a few pointers on what not to do. We cannot stress this enough but please try to stay watchful and alert to what is happening around you. 

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