St. Joseph continues to place high on the list of cities that have the most car thefts per capita. The trend does not just elevate everyone’s car insurance rates; it also increases the likelihood for a car accident.
St. Joseph’s Ongoing Car Theft Problem
While other cities see far more car thefts in a given year, they also have far more people. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), when you account for population size, St. Joseph, Missouri, had the 10th highest car theft rate in the country in 2018.
In 2018, there were 674 car thefts for every 100,000 people in the St. Joseph area.
While those numbers made St. Joseph among the worst in the country, they were actually a significant improvement over 2017. That year, St. Joseph was 5th in the country for car thefts. There were around 750 stolen vehicles for every 100,000 people.
The Obvious Repercussion of Car Thefts: Car Insurance Rates
One of the obvious results of living in a city like St. Joseph where car theft rates are so high is the high cost of car insurance. Everyone – in people who have not had their cars stolen – pay this price.
The Less Obvious Repercussion: More Car Accidents
However, a less obvious repercussion of high car theft rates is an increase in the number of car accidents.
Because car thieves do not own their vehicle, they are far more likely to drive it recklessly or dangerously. This puts everyone on the road, all of them innocent drivers, at risk of a car crash.
To make matters worse, car thieves are uninsured. Even if they have car insurance – which is unlikely – that insurance will probably not carry over to the vehicle they just stole.
Victims in accidents caused by a driver who stole their car face an uphill battle recovering compensation for their losses. They will likely have to lean exclusively on their own insurance policy’s uninsured motorist coverage, which often has a policy limit that will not cover even moderate car accidents. For people who need to save money on their car insurance, uninsured motorist coverage is often the first thing that they go without.
Car Accident Lawyers at the Smith Law Office Serve St. Joseph
When a thief steals a car and causes a crash that leaves you hurt, you deserve to be compensated. Fighting for that compensation in these situations, however, is not easy. Missouri law will generally insulate the owner of the vehicle from liability because of the thief’s decision to steal their car. However, that keeps you from recovering compensation from someone who might be able to provide it.
The personal injury lawyers at the Smith Law Office strive to help those in need. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a car crash, and the person who caused the crash stole the car they were driving, you can use legal representation.
Contact us online or call our law office at (816) 875-9373.