Legal Question in Traffic Law in Illinois

Re: Illinois no insurance punishment

The violation is operation of an uninsured motor vehicle at the time that you were stopped. You need to bring your new insurance card to court and give it to the prosecutor for review. The prosecutor has discretion in this situation. Your card will say that you had coverage on the date of the stop, and if the prosecutor looks at that date, he/she may give you a break and dismiss the case. However, if you are specifically asked if you were covered at the time of the stop you should answer truthfully. In that situation you are likely to receive court supervision and a reduced fine.

Be aware that if you do receive supervision and a small fine for having after acquired insurance you will be ultimately required to obtain SR-22 insurance and maintain it for a year. If you fail to do this, you driver's license will be suspended. This is something that you are not generally made aware of and sometimes takes people by surprise.