Ohio House Bill 278, passed in March 2013, established a Financial Responsibility Study Committee to explore the possibility of implementing an electronic insurance verification program. The program would require insurers to report policy information to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).
The Ohio BMV implemented its Random Selection Program in 1998. The computerized program randomly selects vehicle owners in the state and requires them to provide proof of insurance for a currently registered vehicle for a specific date. The system has helped identify thousands of drivers who drive without insurance, but it has also inconvenienced many more who comply with insurance requirements.
After six months of extensive research and interviews with insurance verification vendors, the study committee recommended that Ohio replace its current Random Selection Program with an insurance verification system using in-house resources, a vendor, or a combination of the two. They also advised using a database, a web-based system, or a hybrid of the two. The committee proposed that all stakeholders participate in determining the specifications for the new system.