Always Carry Proof Of Insurance When Borrowing A Car

I borrowed a friend’s car to go get some things done and was pulled over for a broken tail light. When the officer asked me for my proof of insurance I told him it was a friend’s car and looked in the glove box for his insurance. He didn’t have any in the car so the officer wrote me a ticket and gave me a court date.

I was all set to go to court and pay the fine when I received a notice in the mail saying my license had been suspended. I immediately called the courthouse and asked why that was. The woman I talked to told me it was because of a failure to appear. I was very puzzled and read the date to her off of the ticket the officer had written. She said that they had bumped up the court date and sent me a letter in the mail and that there was nothing they could do if it was a mail error.

A few days later the letter arrived and sure enough the new date had passed and I was out of a license. I guess what I learned from this is never to borrow someone’s car without knowing if it’s registered and insured or to carry proof of personal insurance. Or just make sure you don’t have a broken taillight!