Chuck Weaver of Poulsbo wrote so say, "I was recently told something I could not believe, until I... Road Warrior: Liability In

Chuck Weaver of Poulsbo wrote so say, "I was recently told something I could not believe, until I looked it up. I had always thought that all motor vehicles were required to be insured. A friend told me that RCW 46.04.330 specifically exempts motorcycles. It does? How can this be? Why would the Legislature exempt such a large group of motorists from the mandatory insurance requirements?"

Motorcycle activist "Texas" Larry Walker of South Kitsap says there probably isn’t much support for extending the requirement to motorcycles among those who ride ("We hate being told what to do," he noted).

He said he took an informal survey of local insurers and found that many refused to insure a motorcyclist unless it was part of a package that included other vehicles or one’s home.

Roy said he finds the exemption in the mandatory insurance law "troubling," and guessed that it was based on a categorization of motorcycles as "recreational vehicles" when the law was first enacted.

There are regular attempts in the Legislature to add motorcycles to the law, but they haven’t passed. Kenton Brine of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a lobbying body, said the organization encourages motorcyclists to carry insurance, but it opposes mandatory liability insurance of all kinds, including for cars.

Larry said he would expect that if the state requires motorcyclists to be insured and insurance companies are forced to provide the coverage, they would compensate for such an influx of unknown customers by raising rates across the board.

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