Montana Highway Patrol debuts online insurance-checking tool

Montana Highway Patrol troopers have a new online tool that will allow them to verify from the roadside that drivers have the required liability insurance.

The Montana Insurance Verificatio System was authorized by Senate Bill 508 in the 2009 Legislature. It will be put into use on May 21 in MHP District III, which includes Beaverhead, Deer Lodge, Granite, Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, Madison, Powell and Silver Bow counties. It will be available statewide by August.

“Rather than just having to rely on their best guess, MTIVS will enable troopers and other law enforcement officers to base their decision on whether to issue a warning or a ticket on accurate, real-time information,” said MHP Col. Mike Tooley.

Troopers will also be able to use the system to determine whether a driver had liability insurance at the time of an accident, according an announcement from the state justice department.

Montana law required that vehicles driven on public roads carry liability insurance.