Ohio House Transportation Committee - 3-17-2026

House Transportation Committee will come to order. Time is 3.30 on the 17th of March. Clerk, please call the roll. Chairman Willis. Here. Vice Chair Daniels. Here. Ranking Member Grimm. Here. Representative Blaisdell. Representative Kloffenstein. Representative Lorenz. Representative McLean. Here. Representative Kevin Miller. Representative Muhammad. Here. Representative Newman. Representative Pizzouli. Here. Representative Rogers. Here. Representative Troy. Here. We have a quorum. We have a quorum present and we'll continue as a full committee. I was just going to say that the minutes from the prior committee are on your iPads.

Stand by for that.

Okay, now the minutes from the prior committee are on your iPads. If you refresh your Transportation Committee page there, take a moment to review those. Are there any objections to the minutes? Hearing none, the minutes are approved. All supporting documents and testimony today can be found on your iPads. and please remember to silence your cell phones during the committee process today. Today we have a lengthy schedule and abundant testimony on the docket, so we'd ask that everyone keeps their testimony to five minutes in length. You will see a timer up at the podium as you are there, and we'll ask you to stay within that five-minute period just so we don't have to cut you off. Additionally, members, I'm going to ask to keep the questions to two per member if you can make it succinct, and we will try to get this moving along as quickly as possible. And we will now bring forward Senate Bill No. 212 for its second hearing. This is Senator Timken's bill to create the Playgolf Ohio license plate. We have proponent testimony today from Patrick Salvo.

Thank you for your testimony. Any questions from the committee? Hearing none and no other testimony, what is the pleasure of the committee? The chair recognizes Vice Chair Daniels for a motion.

The motion is in order. Clerk, please call the roll. Chairman Willis? Yes. Vice Chair Daniels? Yes. Ranking Member Grimm. Yes. Representative Blaisdell. Yes. Representative Coffinstein. Yes. Representative Lorenz. Representative McClain. Yes. Representative Kevin Miller. Yes. Representative Muhammad. Yes. Representative Newman. Yes. Representative Pizzouli. Yes. Representative Rogers. Yes. Representative Troy. Yes. Unanimous. 11-0. With a unanimous vote, the bill is reported out of committee and recommended for favorable passage. Please remember to sign the report as it comes around, and the roll will be left open until 5 p.m. today. Next up, we'll have the first hearing for House Bill 334, Representatives Grimm and Erica White, to designate the Keith G. Early Memorial Interchange. Welcome to committee, representatives, and our ranking member.

Stand over the side so I can get pictures of you. So thank you, Chair Willis, Vice Chair Daniels, and ranking member of my joint sponsor, Rep Grimm, and members of the Transportation House Transportation Committee for the opportunity to provide joint sponsor testimony for House Bill 334. This legislation designates the interchange of I-75 and Door Street, in my neck of the woods in our district, so we're excited it's made a big difference, as Keith G. Early Interchange. Mr. Early was an incredible public servant, as my joint sponsor shared, to the people of Lucas County. He completed numerous projects in Lucas County region that have positively impacted residents and visitors During this tenure as Lucas County engineer he completed and this is a good place to cap about 12 roundabouts So he started holding which is pretty exciting and created the Lucas County Transportation Improvement District and began work on the Door Street Interchange at I-75. That interchange has since been described as a new gateway for Western Lucas County, improving access, mobility, and opportunity for residents and businesses across Springfield Township and the surrounding communities. He was truly dedicated to ensuring Lucas County residents and those visiting had a safe and efficient commute. Beyond his career successes, Keith is known as being an incredible mentor, husband, father, and grandfather. Naming this interchange in honor of Keith Early will serve as a reminder to members of this community, friends and families of his life of public service. Mr. Early understood something fundamental about infrastructure. When we invest in safe and efficient roads, we invest in the people who rely on them every single day. Families getting to school, workers getting to their jobs, and visitors experiencing our community. Naming this interchange in honor of Mr. Keith Early will serve as a lasting reminder to members of the community and the state of Ohio, to his friends and family, and to those who don't know him yet, and to future generations of the life of public service he lived. Infrastructure often outlives the people who built it. In this case, the gateway to Western Lucas County was shaped, he helped shape that, and will continue serving Lucas County residents and visitors for decades to come. I respectfully urge a passage of this legislation to commemorate Mr. Early, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you, representatives, for bringing the bill today.

Thank you.

Sure.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. Chairman Willis, Vice Chair Daniels and Ranking Member Grimm, and the members of the House Transportation Committee, I am testifying today to express my support for House Bill 334 to honor my late press assessor as Lucas County Engineer, Keith Early, P.E.P.S. by naming his greatest achievement the I-475 and Door Street interchange as the Keith G. Early Memorial Interchange. Keith served as a Lucas County engineer from 2000 until his retirement in 2019. Keith also served as the Mercer County year for over 16 years and was one of the few County engineers to serve in multiple counties. His dedication to the public was unmatched and he was always looking for opportunities to improve the communities in which he lived. I and many others have learned from his example and and I can only hope to continue to serve in the unselfish and demotive manner that he did. One of the largest challenges in our area was to construct an interchange on Door Street and Interstate 475. Multiple Toledo area transportation plans over decades identified this interchange as one of the largest needs of the region. It provided a secondary access to the University of Toledo, as well as to headquarters of Well Tower, and provided access to a large area of western Lucas County. Keith was a leader in developing the coalition of private and public partners to obtain the support and funding required to make this interchange a reality for our area. For over a decade, he was constantly advocating for this important piece of infrastructure and developed the funding applications from TRAC and other jurisdictions. Due to his efforts, the project was one of the highest-ranked projects in the history of TRAC funding, and it still is the highest-ranked project in the history of TRAC funding. He also spearheaded the funding plan with several local and private partners to make the project a reality. Keith was also an advocate for highway safety and worked to obtain funding for what was then a new idea for intersection improvements, the modern roundabout. Early on, Keith saw the improvements in traffic and safety the roundabout would provide for our community and aggressively obtained the funding needed to improve our roadways. As a result, Lucas County continues to have the largest amount of roundabout intersections per capita in Ohio, with over 50. Five of these roundabouts are located on the Door Street interchange. The interchange has been open since 2021 and has made significant difference in the area since its opening, saving the public countless hours of delay and improving the safety of our roadways. Sadly, Keith was not able to see the fruit of his efforts as he passed away from cancer in December 2021. Due to his long career of public service and his commitment to Lucas County and highway safety, I support and urge the naming of the Dorff Street and Inner State 475 interchange as the Keith G. Early Memorial Interchange. I thank you for your consideration today, and I look forward to any questions you may have.

Hi there. Thank you very much for coming to advocate for this. So since you're the engineer now, I'm looking at this interchange on Google Maps, and it's a pretty interesting interchange.

How has it gone? You alluded to it a little bit. It's got a few things that I really like. It looks to me like you've got some extra width. You've got some roadway around the outside of the tower. So anybody that hasn't seen it, it looks like a figure eight or an eight. There's no red light anywhere, if I understand right, at this. So what I like about that is it allows room for big trucks to navigate without hitting the little tip, you know, the freight tipping curb or whatever. But just a little commentary on how this interchange has worked.

Thank you very much. Again, anybody that's interested, I suggest you look up Door Street, Toledo, Ohio. You will see it's at 475, not at 75. You'll see it's an interesting thing to look at from a transportation perspective. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm really nervous today. And you know what?

There you go.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Thanks, Chair Willis, Vice Chair Daniels, Ranking Member Grimm, and everybody, all the other members of the Transportation Committee. Thanks for having me here today. And this is very emotional for me. Yes, ma'am. So I'm Ruby Early. I was married to Keith for 52 and a half years. I met him when I was 18. He was 21. He was a love at first sight to the day he died. And we have three children, Randy, Rebecca, and Doug. My son, Doug, has since passed away after Keith died. And so we have four grandkids and three great-grandkids. And Keith was a husband, father, a great-grandfather. He enjoyed spending time with our family. After retirement, he really loved being a grandpa. He spent a lot of time with them playing with sidewalk chalk, even dolls with our granddaughters. And he even, well, he used to love cars with our youngest grandson. And his very favorite thing in the world was teaching them the joys of eating ice cream. So Keith was a golfer, and he loved spending the day on the golf course, which was his favorite hobby. He enjoyed being outside, and he loved the sun, and he was a very hard worker. And his golf friends really, really miss him. Keith had a good sense of humor. He really loved funny jokes. And he loved telling jokes, and he was very good at it. He always had this amazing smile on his face when he walked in a room. The first thing people would notice about him was his amazing smile. And, you know, you worked with him a little bit, so you know. Safety was really important to him. When we first moved to Mercer County, and he was a county engineer, one of his roads, the bridge was out, and somebody had removed the sign bridge out. And one of the worst things that ever happened was somebody flew through, and this kid turned where the bridge was at and killed him. It broke Keith's heart. So everything he did after that was safety for roads. I was really proud of him when he was the president of the County Engineers Association when he said to everybody, I want my roads to be safe for all of you. I want my roads to be safe for your parents, your mom, your girlfriend, your wife, your children. And that was really important to Keith. He was devoted to public service for 36 years. He was a Mercer County engineer for 16 years. And a lot of people don't realize that he and his father were the first father-son team as county engineers when he was sworn into office in 1983. His father was the county engineer of Morrow County, had been for 20-some years. So that was quite the honor. I'm sort of... So I really want to thank everybody for letting me testify and your consideration. And thank all of you and Michelle and Mike for all that. And I didn't realize you were there, but thank you. You did a lovely, lovely thing about my husband. So I really happy to be here So I hope you would give my husband the consideration of naming this interchange the Keith G Early Memorial Interchange Thank you

Yes.

It wasn't. It was emotional because since the last time I was here, the last time my son Doug brought me with his son, and he has since passed away, so it was quite a shock that my son died too. So, you know, he's with his dad now in heaven.

Representative Troy. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mrs. Early. Certainly, I'm sure I've interacted with your husband because he was president of the County Engineers Association of Ohio, and I was president of the County Commissioner's Association of Ohio. And as you know, we had joint conventions every year, still do. And so certainly it's been a great partnership. And obviously your husband was definitely part of promoting the county engineer profession and working with the county commissioners. Sometimes we actually agree, the commissioners and the County Engineers Association, on our budgets. But anyway, thank you for being here, and certainly this is an honor deserving of your husband, and we'll be proud to pass this legislation. Thank you.

The floor is yours. Thank you, Chair Willis, Vice Chair Daniels, Ranking Member Grimm, and the committee today is just a reminder of how it's not just about bridges and roads and those kind of things. It's about hearing stories that probably can really move you, but then also to know that you have a chance to really honor people like Ms. Early's husband and many others. So with that honor, I'd like to bring before you House Bill 416 with my joint sponsor, Rep Manning, which would designate a portion of Route 6, State Route 6, in Lorraine as the Police Officer Philip Wagner Memorial Highway. Too often we hear about tragic stories in this committee where great and heroic Ohioans are killed in line of service and in defense of their communities. And whenever our service members, men and women in blue, give the ultimate sacrifice, it is our responsibility as a General Assembly to honor and recognize what they have given in the name of peace and security. And somberly, we come before you with another such story that struck at the heart of Lorain County. On July 23rd, 2025, Officer Wagner was on duty as usual, and around 1 o'clock, he and his fellow patrolmen pulled into River Bend Drive near the 2200 block of Colorado Avenue in Lorain for a quick lunch. Suddenly, without warning, a deranged gunman ambushed their vehicle. Armed with an arsenal of weapons including multiple high rifles handguns a substantial number of loaded magazines and improvised explosive devices the intent was clear to kill the police officers After an exchange of gunfire, the gunman was killed, and Officer Wagner was life-flighted to MetroHealth in Cleveland. Tragically, he would pass away from his injuries the following day on July 24th, leaving behind his wife, Jessica, and his three children. Officer Wagner had served in Lorraine Police Department for three years and with the Sheffield Village Police Department for four years. And before that, his record of service far predates his time as a police officer. You see, Officer Wagner was a combat veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served two terms, one in Afghanistan. and whether at home or abroad, Officer Wagner answered that call of service with the highest sense of honor and duty. As Lorraine reckons, a family and department grieve, we must ask ourselves, what can we do for our officers? Lorraine will certainly never forget badge 4178 and the man behind it. July 24th is now recognized as Officer Philip Wagner Day in the city. He was also awarded by the police department posthumously the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor. And now as the Ohio General Assembly we can take the first immediate steps to heal the wounds inflicted upon Lorraine and the broader enforcement community. The section of road that this bill dedicates to Officer Wagner's part of US Route 6 located around the Lorraine Police Department. It will serve as a solemn reminder to all sacrifices law enforcement makes in the line of duty. As Lorraine looks ahead, we need to understand this was a deliberate ambush planned on law enforcement. No one would be armed to that magnitude without a purpose. And our law enforcement desires our utmost support. It is my hope that this legislation contributes to the broader effort of addressing targeted violence against law enforcement. I would be glad to take any questions you may have after my joint sponsor's testimony. Thank you.

The floor is yours. Thank you, Chair Willis and Vice Chair Daniels and Ranking Member Grimm and members of the committee. Representative Miller covered most of this. You have my testimony in front of you. I do want to talk about some other things that weren't mentioned. one of the things you have to remember is how upsetting this was to not only the county but the northeast of Ohio. The fact that they were eating lunch and they were gunned down while having lunch. And so the other officer was critically hurt. He's doing better now. But all the officers of Lorain County, it was just amazing. Many of the other cities made sure that they stepped in so that the officers in Lorain could grieve. And Officer Wagner and his wife and three very little children, because Officer Wagner was young, live in North Ridgeville, which I've lived in for most of my life. And so the whole county has been very touched by this. And so this is just one small way of honoring Officer Wagner. And we hope we can have your support. Thank you. We'll be happy to answer any questions. you may have.

passing the gavel to Vice Chair Daniels for our next order of business. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll now bring forward House Bill 600, and to provide testimony, I've got our own Chair Willis. Okay, and Rep. Barhorst. Thank you. Gentlemen, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Rep. Barhorst. The Vice Chair Daniels and Racking Member Grimm and the members of the House Transportation Committee, Thank you immensely for allowing us to ask for your support of House Bill 600 and honoring the life of Private First Class Wetzel Lonnie Eldridge. Memorial Highway designations serve an important purpose, as I've said many times. They ensure that the names and stories of those who gave their lives in service to our nation remain visible to the communities they came from. In this case, the communities of Champaign and Clark County will have a permanent reminder of a young man who answered the call to serve and made the ultimate sacrifice. Private First Class Eldridge was only 19 years old when he was killed in action. And you can do the math, I was only nine months old. During the Vietnam War, like many of the members of that generation, he stepped forward during a difficult chapter in our nation's history and served with courage and commitment. While many decades have passed, it's a sacrifice. The responsibility to remember does not fade with time. And by naming this portion of State Route 41 and I append comments by saying that this is a stretch of State Route 41 very near the border between Champaign and Clark counties and he happened to have gone to school at the high school that is on State Route 41, just a few miles from my home. And we would be honored to have his name there. To remind not only us, but to remind the kids that go up and down that road every day, going to a school that he attended as a kid, we want to make sure that the reminder of the cost of freedoms that we enjoy are always held in high regard. It's a privilege to stand with Representative Barhorst in bringing the legislation forward. Respectfully ask for all of your support on House Bill 600, and we'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you, gentlemen, very much.

Next, we'll have the second hearing on House Bill 604. This is a bill from Representative Adam Matthews and Representative Kishman to modify the laws related to transportation network companies. We have proponent testimony today from Mr. Brad Nail of Uber Technologies. Welcome to committee, sir. Sorry I missed our meeting earlier today. But the floor now is yours.

Thank you for your testimony today, sir. The chair recognizes Ranking Member Grimm for a question.

Correct, ma'am.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Graham. Thank you for that question. I think it's an important question to ask, and certainly it a terrible situation that you described that we certainly would like not to see happen This bill will not change Ohio law on criminal acts such as the one that you described So remember that TNC drivers are independent contractors, but even if we had an employer-employee relationship, Under Ohio law, employees are not liable for criminal acts committed by their employees in the course and scope of their job duties unless it's at the direction of the employer. So it – and the same treatment would be expected in the TNC relationship with the independent contractor. So the liability for criminal activity is not transferred to the employer. So there's no change. This bill does not change anything under Ohio law. This bill is not intended to broaden or to narrow the scope of liability for TNCs under that scenario. TNCs will still be liable for their actions and for both their actions and their failure to act if those actions or failure to act contributed to an incident.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Grimm. No, the law does not require fingerprint background checks. We do comprehensive background checks that we believe captures the entire criminal history, but does not require the fingerprint in order to do that. Thank you for that.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for coming in today. Good to see you. As a railroader, for those who might not know, we actually ride in taxis every day. actually for our job. And so we're seeing carriers start to shift transportation to Uber. And so with that, as you can imagine, comes a serious liability gap. And so if I'm injured in the ride, my concern is I may not be able to hold the railroad accountable. And I can't say no to the ride, right? Because it's in the job description. So and a million dollars, you know, isn't a lot of liability for a railroad or a lot of insurance. So if Uber isn't liable, if the railroad isn't

We might have an answer in the form of a question from Vice Chair Daniels.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Vice Chair. If it's deemed to be within the course and scope of their employment, then I think that is the case, yes.

Any other questions from the committee? Follow-up from Representative Pizzouli.

Oh, okay. Okay.

Mr. Chairman and Representative, I consult on the insurance and risk issues, so I don't know about specific pricing algorithms. I can tell you that in several markets, we actually break out just the insurance costs and itemize them on the receipts so that the riders can see how much of their fare is actually going to insurance and liability, and it's staggering in some places. And so that may be one of the effects of what you're reading there. That's a good question. We've had multiple constituents that have reached out just saying, hey, are there any things that we can do to help the companies come up with some, you know, whatever better structure for the pay of drivers? And we know it's different in every market, but we also understand that every time we are dealing with a heavy insurance issue like this, it can add cost. And so we're hopeful that if we reduce that insurance load that it could make the driver pay actually a little higher, in addition to helping the company with their market. Appreciate your testimony.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, sir, for the testimony. So has there been a preponderance of large awards being given by juries against companies that Uber, Lyft, or is this basically a bill to substantially reduce the cost of insurance for the companies?

Chairman, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Representative. This bill is really intended to address the auto accident and negligence of the driver and who should be properly named in a lawsuit in that situation It doesn't impact or change current Ohio law on who is liable in the criminal situation that you just described. That's probably the largest point, I think, to gather from this.

Appreciate your testimony today, sir.

Next we'll have Kevin Schimp, one of the attorneys from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, as a proponent. Welcome to the committee, sir. The floor is yours.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you for your testimony today or any questions from the committee.

Chairman, Representative, I think we're here today to support House Bill 604. If we want to have conversations about providing special protections to other types of transportation companies or operations, we're glad to have that conversation.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. Shim. So, you know, I was here before when, you know, we're dealing with tort reform again. and we have substantially limited the non-economic damages, I think, in Ohio's tort law. I mean, I guess the question here is, is not someone who has been wronged or been a victim of an agent of these companies entitled their day in court? I mean, this basically is saying that, no, we're taking the company who this individual acted as an agent of and basically saying they're not responsible for this. I mean, we've already severely limited, I don't know if we're the 15th worst, but I know that from the business standpoint, Ohio's tort statutes have come a long way from where they used to be in terms of dealing. I mean, I can remember the Celebreze court and how things were a little bit out of hand, and we kind of put some of those horses back in the barn. So I guess, you know, is this really necessary when we currently have some limits on non-economic damages and punitive damages? Chairman, Representative Troy, so first, TNC drivers are not agents of the TNC. They are independent contractors. Second, you know, the conversation about tort caps, you know, we can have in a different committee. But I do want to just kind of highlight why this legislation is important. It because the business is harmed the moment they named in the lawsuit The harm accrues because as soon as they named they going to have to hire the lawyer they're going to have to potentially go through discovery. The lease at a minimum are going to be filing motions for dismisses. And so that's when the operating costs go up. The legislature last General Assembly found prudent to stop overnaming in asbestos. We see this as a similar vein of let's stop the harm to businesses and business community by making it essentially let's name the right person. Let's get the right person in the lawsuit. This bill, like the asbestos overnaming bill, doesn't diminish the ability of individuals to recover the damages from the responsible party. All it says is don't name parties that shouldn't be there in the first place. And so that's why we support House Bill 604.

Chair Willis, Vice Chair Daniels, Ranking Member Graham, and the members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in opposition to House Bill 463. My name is Mike Belcour, and I'm here testifying on the behalf of AAA, which has been long committed to improving roadway safety and advancing effective driver training, driver education programs for young drivers. Triple H strongly supports high-quality driver training that prepares Ohioans for safety, safely operate motors on the roadways. However, we have significant concerns that House Bill 463 moves Ohio in the wrong direction by weakening proven driver training standards and introducing an untested technology-based model without sufficient evidence that it will improve safety outcomes. House Bill 463 would allow parents to substitute part of the required behind-the-wheel training with instruction delivered with an electronic device or application. Specifically, the bill allows a qualified adult to do four of the required eight hours behind-the-wheel training. As an aside, I would like to point out that AAA does support technology and innovation in driver education, such as with the other proposal in this bill involving the Road Ready app and tracking of student driving hours. Driver education is a critical safety intervention. Policies that change how drivers are trained should be grounded in strong data, evidence, and not assumptions, which at this time there is little to no research out there that demonstrates that app-based driver training gives the same outcome as behind-the-wheel training. Current driver training requirements exist for a reason. Professional instructors are trained to identify unsafe driving behaviors, correct mistakes in real time, and expose students a wide range of driving conditions. Under House Bill 463, parents or other qualified adults could conduct up to half the behind the wheel training using an electronic out without any of the required training that instructors go through. While parents play an essential role in helping teens practice driving, substituting licensed professional instruction with a smartphone application raises significant questions about training quality, consistency and oversight. Driver education is not simply a checklist of hours completed. It is a complex learning process that requires real-time instruction, feedback and supervision. Proponents argue that the technology will expand access to training, but I will say there is no current evidence that the app-based instruction improves the safety outcomes for team drivers. Young drivers are already among the highest risk drivers on the road, introducing unproven training methods without sufficient data could have unintended consequences for roadway safety for all Ohioans. Proponents have also suggested that using technology will reduce costs to families and address potential backlogs for driver training. However, it is not clear that House Bill 463 will meaningfully reduce costs. With any electronic training system, you may introduce subscription or fees, different device requirements, additional technology costs, and new regulatory oversight costs. At the same time, reducing professional instruction hours may undermine the quality of training Ohio drivers receive. The core concern with House Bill 463 is that it moves Ohio ahead of the evidence. Before making major changes to driver education policy, the legislature should ensure the program has been tested in real world environments, Safety outcomes have been independently evaluated, and the state has clear evidence that the change will improve, not weaken the current driver and training standards. At this time, those assurances simply do not exist. AAA believes strongly in innovation in improving access to driver education. However, innovation must be guided by safety and supported by evidence. House Bill 463 introduces an untested driver education model, reduces reliance on licensed instructors, and places Ohio in the position of testing a new technology-based training system without demonstrated safety benefits. For these reasons, AAA respectfully urges the committee to oppose House Bill 463. Thank you, and I will be happy to answer any questions.

Chair recognizes Representative Troy. Thank you, sir. Just a question on part of the – obviously, I understand where you have a problem with the type of training in electronic devices, but this bill also drops the permit, temporary permit, from 15 1⁄2 years down to 15 years of age. As an entity that has dealt with the driver training, what's your opinion on that particular change? Thank you. Through the Chair to Representative Troy. if you want my true opinion the year is what stands out the most that you having the temps for the year especially in Ohio where there's all four seasons that kids can drive in is the most important I would recommend 15 and a half to 16 and a half but that year is the most important because right now if somebody gets their license and or their temps in April and they test in October they never see snow and ice And we all know with this winter that we had snow and ice is important So that year long of them holding their temps and getting the drive in all weather is the most important thing to the safety there. Just to follow up, so you would recommend staying at least at 15 and a half, not lowering that down lower? Well, I would say if it was a perfect world, we stay at 15 and a half, but we are not opposing moving it to 15 because of the gaining of the year and being able to support the training in all four seasons. Thank you.

Thanks for being here. I appreciate it very much. And thank you for talking to me out in the hall. and your comments on the year. As someone who has three girls with a May birthday, they never drove in all four seasons, so you kind of made that point for me. Can you talk about how many other states allow a permit before the age of 15 1⁄2? Do you know off the top of your head? Through chair to the representative, I cannot speak to all the states. I do not know all of them. I know there are several states in our club territory, Club Alliance territory, that offer temporary license as early as 14. So there are states out there. There's no appreciative data either way that says the time between 15 and 15 and a half there's this more maturity or this more safety. that's again why we say the year is more important than necessarily the age sure thank you and then um i know the driving school is a competitive market and i'm not asking you to give me your fees but you know being a triple a member i know that we have different levels of memberships and you get a lot of my money because again i got six people but um So what's the rough estimated cost for a driver's ed class in Ohio, if you know? Yep. Through the chair to Representative Lorenz, thank you. And really, it depends on where you live. We see costs as low as $350 to $400 to go through the program to upwards in other areas to $800 to $900. So it's a wide range based on different areas of the state.

Thank you, Chair. So the witness, thank you for your testimony today. You brought several things to my attention to make me think a little bit differently about this bill. And the two things that I hear you saying is that we need to make sure that we have safety and data. And those are very important, especially when we're dealing with teen drivers and new drivers. One thing I didn't hear you say that you're arguing against the tech, you're not arguing against the technology. technology. So my question to you is that has your company began to experiment or utilize this technology in practice? Through the chair to the representative, thank you for the question. I can tell you we're looking at it. We don't have, we do not have as AAA an app in place that would do this kind of training, but we are for technology. And the thing is, we just want it tested and proven we all know you know I've been in the business for 13 years running AAA's driver training here saw the change from in person to allowing online and this is possibly the next step but there just no data out there to support it right now so when that app gets there we want the data and maybe it will show that it just as safe But without having that assurance the kids lives are too important to make this jump and make Ohio first to make this jump Thank you for that. And my follow-up question is we do want to expand access for students from all demographics and all economic backgrounds. And how would this change your business model if this legislation were to pass? How would it change your business model and how you expand access to others? Through the chair to the representative, again, thank you for the question. I'm going to be totally honest with you. I haven't thought that far ahead on it yet. I think the state's driver training office and Department of Public Safety is already doing a lot to try to expand with the different grants they've offered and everything to keep driver training the same, but reach those different demographics. Especially we've had some experience in that in Cincinnati, where I'm from, with the Cincinnati Police Department and things like that. How would it change the business model? I don't know. I mean, in theory, it would cut half the backlog, right? But in practice, do all the parents jump on that? And you have, because you already have it, people still don't want to do online driver's ed because they believe in the put them in a seat, make them listen, take them there, do it that way. I think you could have that same thing there where it may not have a great effect because parents want, parents are scared to drive with their teens. They want the instructor to do the four hours. So it's a little up in the air.

Thank you, Chairman. Thanks for being here today. I guess my question, when this bill passes, the app is not going to be available the next day. It has to be scrutinized by the Director of Public Safety to say it can be used. So I guess my question is, do you trust the Director of Public Safety to say, yes, this app is in a place where it can be safely used, or do we not trust the process that that can happen? Through the Chair to the Representative, thank you for the question. Yes, I trust the person to oversee it, but the problem is they need the data to make an informed decision. Right now, they're looking at an untested application or electronic-based, technology-based thing that there's no data for them to look at to see if it's safer, gives you the same outcomes, or it doesn't give you the same outcomes. If they have that data and they make the decision to move forward, I wholeheartedly support that. But right now, to me, they're making an unformed decision because there is no research out there for them to look at to make that decision. Yes. You know, we could go back and forth what comes first, the chicken or the egg, but in this case, they can build the data, take the app, put it in with a driver's instructor with the student, but you have to start the process somewhere, and to not acknowledge that we have bad drivers, and to not acknowledge that we have backups in the system, to not acknowledge we have costs where families can afford it There a host of things here we need to solve to have safer roadways And I guess at some point we have to trust the Director of Public Safety to look at the app put it through a process, get the data, and at the end of the day, what we want are safer drivers. Thank you.

Through the chair, through the representative, all I would say to that is, Just asking a question back, and like you said, we could go back and forth on that, is do we want to put the safety and stuff of Ohio children before the good data? And it is, like you said, a chicken and the egg type of question.

Yeah. Okay. So through the chair to Representative Grimm, what I would say is what I said in my testimony, that we would want to see, once the app is developed, for it to be tested in real-world conditions, be independently evaluated, and then make sure those data points that it covers improve what we have currently, if that makes sense. Any other questions from the committee?

Thank you.

Good to have you, sir. And the floor is yours. Thank you for having me. Chairman Wills, Vice Chair Daniels, Ranking Member Grimm, members of the House Transportation Committee. My name's Mike Flam. I'm a police specialist for the City of Cincinnati Police Department assigned to the traffic unit. I've been a police officer for the City of Cincinnati for 30 years, assigned to the crash reconstruction team now for 26 years. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of House Bill 678. During my tenure with the traffic unit I'm responsible for the investigation of fatal life-altering injury traffic crashes, non injury traffic collisions, enforcement of hazardous moving violations and other traffic laws. In addition, I've been responsible for training police recruits and law enforcement officers in the city of Cincinnati and around the state of Ohio. The instruction that I'm responsible for is traffic crash investigation and traffic law enforcement. Today I represent not only law enforcement within this state, but parents, residents, traveling motorists, visitors who all travel upon our roads. Far too often, irresponsible drivers and vehicle owners allow their vehicles to be driven in violation of our financial responsibility laws. Technology affects all aspects of our daily lives. However, once again, we find that law enforcement officers in Ohio are forced to use antiquated system for confirming vehicle insurance officers have no recent improvement for identification or verification of auto insurance policies law enforcement officers have access and regularly use that digital databases to verify driver license status ownership or registrations of vehicles even confirm confirmation of warrants however there is no current option to verify whether an insurance policy is valid we're still repiant reliant upon papal insurance cards or the occasional cell phone screenshot provided by the driver this method of insurance validation is easily manipulated often misrepresented and antiquated we are failing the motorists and the vehicle owners in Ohio who carry the proper insurance on their vehicles most motorists go throughout their daily lives with no interaction with law enforcement. When the rare occasion does occur, it's usually a result of a traffic crash. Whether it involves damage to their vehicle or injuries sustained as a result of the crash, the one resolution that people seek to become whole again. This process of getting their vehicle repaired or payments of hospital bills is challenging enough. But the reality of the situation is most drivers and vehicle owners have no real idea of the challenges they will be facing. This is compounded by how often the other drivers and motorists are not carrying insurance. When the insurance provided is incorrect, canceled, or falsified, and law enforcement has no reliable method of verifying, we are compounding the problems and frustration these motorists face when navigating this process. Two recent examples that I've experienced and brought to my attention while reviewing this proposed legislation. And the first, a simple traffic stop for a speeding violation led to a driver providing a paper card which illustrated that he had valid insurance through a well-known insurance company. The card was valid for six months. However, numerous weeks later in court, it was determined that the driver did not have insurance. This was determined as the driver was involved in a collision, provided the same insurance card, and the not-at-fault operator was unable to get their damaged vehicle fixed as the insurance was not valid. The offending driver was able to secure an insurance card by applying for insurance, acquiring a monthly payment, as so many people do, then failed to make any additional payments. His insurance card still appeared valid for the remainder of the six policy Had this insurance information been verified at the time of the original traffic stop it quite possible that the driver operating privileges would have been suspended and the entire situation avoided In the second example, a driver is involved in a serious injury vehicle crash. Unable to communicate with officers, the insurance of their vehicle could not be added to the report. Due to the time spent in the hospital, the crash report was submitted and the other driver and occupants had to perceive that there was no insurance. This was not the situation. A method of identifying an insurance would have allowed the other occupants of the vehicle to begin processing their claim. Both situations are starkly different. However, I request that you support Bill 678.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much for your testimony. Your detailed examples are very valid and happen, unfortunately, too frequently in this state. I'm curious if you can think of, you know, we always talk about the fact that driving is a privilege, not a right. Can you think of any other requirement to operate a vehicle that is so loosely mandated as this?

Chair recognizes Ranking Member Grimm.

Chairman, Representative Grimm, thank you for the question. It takes a matter of seconds.

Chairman, Representative Grimm, I appreciate the question. I think the answer is, first, it seemed like it was much longer than a few seconds as you're sitting in front of the police officer. But when we enter a license plate into a database system, the leads return to a computer or a laptop that's out in the field is dependent on the connection with the mobile carrier. Obviously, if there's no connection, things take a little bit longer. However, if I enter a driver's license number in, as fast as I can submit the driver's license, there is a list of returns. One of the returns is the vehicle's license registration. The other is the driver's driving record. Now, depending on how good of a driver you are, sometimes that's shorter than others. but for those that are under a suspension or were under suspension it takes the same amount of time is somebody that has a clean driving record because instead of having one page you might have two or three pages with the driving information on it right within that somebody that was under as was under suspension got their license back proved insurance to the state and then was placed under suspension again because they failed to ensure, it is just another line item on a page. It comes back just as fast. There is no reason to even anticipate there would be any delay in this return. It's certainly not going to delay anyone more than it seems like 20 minutes sitting there. But realistically, I know in my experience, my stops generally last 7 to 10 minutes. And whether or not somebody's under suspension or someone's valid and there's a line item showing the insurance, there is no difference. It's just whether or not I can see what the insurance policy is or who the carrier is. It would create almost no additional time. However, the value that it provides to law enforcement, if you're involved in a crash and we cannot have access to your insurance, We cannot begin processing or letting the other folks process their claim. And just the same, if you don't have insurance, they would want to know that up front as well, that this driver does not have insurance and that we need to start going through an uninsured motorist claim. There is no time added on to the stop or to an investigation for having this added in.

Thank you to the witness for your testimony. Just a few quick questions. We all want people to be safe. We want to make sure that people are financially responsible, and we understand that in the state of Ohio, we don't have like subsidies for people who aren't able to provide financial responsibility or proof of insurance. But what happens when you do a police stop or a crash stop and an individual doesn't have financial responsibility or no driver's license? Do you keep them there or do you just send them on their way and give them a citation? Chairman, Representative Rogers, thank you for the question. Nothing happens. There no criminal charge for not carrying insurance There are civil responsibilities and there are ultimately additional criminal penalties if you got caught driving without under suspension because your driver's license will be suspended if you're involved in a crash, you have contact with the law enforcement, but you're stopped. It doesn't generate a criminal charge like other states do. It simply alerts the Bureau of Motor Vehicles that this operator was driving without insurance And if that is indeed the case, it does trigger a suspension. And I think no one argues about someone that's driving, gets caught, is involved in a crash, that they shouldn't be suspended or punished for their deeds. This does not change anything. It just allows us to know up front who is valid and who is not. Currently, if somebody doesn't have insurance and they provide a falsified card, that falsified card gets entered in because that's the best information we have. However, we still find out because when the other party tries to claim, make a claim against that insurance, and it's found out that it's not valid anymore, it was canceled or is fictitiously obtained, that information still comes out, the suspension still happens, it just takes an extra six to eight weeks for this whole process to occur versus everybody knowing up front immediately. It would cause very little to no burden on the state. It would cause no burden on the operators of the vehicles. We just want people to be operating legally in Ohio as to the financial responsibility laws. Follow up?

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for your service. Appreciate you. My question revolves similar to the question that was just asked. So I was a state trooper for just over 22 years, so obviously many contacts with individuals, but you said something here that we were often frustrated with. You stop someone, let's say you decide to give them a warning, and they don't have insurance. And I think I heard you say it right. So you don't have a city code that you can write for just not, there's no criminal penalty at all for not having insurance. Is that correct? I'm sorry chairman represent Miller the past 30 years I'm not aware of any Ohio revised code that is a criminal penalty now under under 4506 I think it's oh nine I don't quote me on this it provides civil responsibilities to a driver which would also include a driving suspension to the Bureau motor vehicles but there's no criminal penalty no criminal charge to write somebody for not having insurance so if I pulled somebody over for a minor traffic violation it would lead to a warning ticket and they present a false insurance card one I have no way of knowing that's false to I have no way known to expired but if they have no insurance card my only recourse is on the state provided traffic citation is a is a box that stays financial responsibilities shown yes or no even if I check yes I have no way of knowing if what I'm checking is accurate if I check no that just triggers the Bureau of Motor Vehicles the courts and the clerk of courts in whatever county you're in it triggers that for them to respond to ask for insurance at that point and if If the person doesn't have insurance or if they have a fictitious card, they're going to show the same fictitious card or the expired card. It's the same card that gets presented. There is no criminal charge for this. Follow-up? Sure. Would you – I know you mentioned other states, and I'm looking at an amendment. of amendment that would do so, maybe making it a minor misdemeanor or something of that nature, a separate offense? Chairman, Representative Miller, yes, I would. I think anything that we can do to support the law enforcement efforts to make driving more safe and appropriate, I would. There's many things that I would support, and I know there's many changes that happened over my career of 30 years. including the driver's license laws. Most of those have been decriminalized. We've taken a lot of the penalty out of driving. I would support having a citation, a minor misdemeanor violation, for not having insurance on you at that time. I believe Kentucky has that exact law. One more. McFallup. Thank you, Chair. One last question. I don't know the answer to this, so let's use one of your scenarios. A traffic crash involving two individuals. The at-fault party has insurance. The harmed party or the victim party does not have insurance. In that situation, you couldn't write them a citation for anything. They weren't at fault. They were a victim of a traffic crash. When the traffic crash is sent in, does anything happen to that victim that didn't have insurance? Chairman, Representative Miller, it does. Because in the state crash report, we still document that the driver did not have insurance. And through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, that does trigger the investigation into the non-insured driver, and it will create a SS security suspension by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Thank you for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Officer, for coming in and for your service. You mentioned falsified cards. Would you say part of the goal of this bill is to make that kind of – make it less dependent on paper forms for proof of insurance? Chairman, Representative Pizzulli, absolutely. Follow-up? Follow-up? Follow-up. So my next question is, that said, as an officer, I'd like your opinion on, would you be open to the idea of, you know, we're making this easier for the law enforcement, so why not make it easier on the average Ohioan, too, and no longer require the driver to carry the paper form if we could just do it electronically? because I don't know about anybody else, but having to take the time to put that in the glove box, it's another thing added to the million things that you have to do already, right? So would you be open to that idea as an officer? Chairman, Representative Pizzoli, I think currently we're already in that situation. Most folks don't carry the card with them anymore. Most folks don't have anything on them until we have to ask for it, and then it's a matter of downloading it from an app on their phone, looking through the email, if they do find in their glove boxes expired by six years or in this case many times if it's valid at six months and to be quite frank if somebody has a valid insurance card in their car I think that's more of the exception than the rule now most folks are pulling it up on their phone and so so the not requiring it I don think we do now but if we do sure I would more than happy go digital we use our phones we use technology for so many other aspects in our life Why not this Chair. Yeah, so I guess, you know, my point is, would it be OK, in your opinion, if, you know, I didn't have to be asked to show it on my phone or in my glove box with the paper? Would you be okay with just looking it up in your system so that I didn't have to take the time to worry about an app and all this stuff? Chairman, Representative Pizzoli, I would have some reservation. And the reason is occasionally the State Bureau of Motor Vehicle System does go down. And we have to have some way of falling back. So if I ask to see it, I think we have to have some way for drivers to at least have a responsibility to produce it. not completely get away from it. No different than a driver's license. If I have your driver's license number, I can pull it up in the state BMV system. However, I can still ask to see your driver's license. You're still under Ohio law required to prove that you have your license on your person. If the Bureau of Motor Vehicle System does go down, we have to have a fallback system on it. So I wouldn't be completely against it unless there are some sort of reassurances that we can have access to see that when we would need to.

Thank you, Specialist. You were our guinea pig in this process on this particular bill, so you probably got the bulk of the questions. That's fine. Thank you. I greatly appreciate your experience in the subject and the ability to educate us a little bit. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Thanks so much.

Well, thank you, Chair Willis, Vice Chair Daniels, and Ranking Member Grimm, and members of the Ohio Transportation Committee. I'm here to provide proponent support for House Bill 678. OIA is where the Ohio Insurance Agents Association will represent thousands of independent insurance agents across the great state of Ohio. And we strongly support the premise of this bill, which would establish an online insurance verification system administered by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. I do want to say a special thank you. I've been with the OIA for 12 years, and thank you to Representative Daniels, Representative Lorenz, Representative Abrams for taking this issue on and advancing it. To me, it's been the most common sense public policy initiative that has been lacking an effort to get in front of a committee like this. And so I appreciate your willingness to have this discussion publicly because this solves a lot of problems. The first problem is we have a growing uninsured motorist rate in this state. 18.5% of the population drives around on the roads every day today without meeting the financial responsibility requirements. And why do they do it? Because there is no proactive, modern way to enforce the law. There's essentially no enforcement of the current statute that requires you to have financial responsibility. So if you're out there not abiding by the law, your risk of being caught is you have to get into an accident, in a crash, essentially. You can go to the BMV and get your registration and sign an attestation form and nobody checks. There's no verification point. There's no proactive effort. In today society it hard to believe with 12 million registered vehicles and 8 million drivers to think that the BMV doesn have a proactive method to check whether or not we have financial responsibility is just it a little bizarre to me and it led to the problem that we have today So 18.5% today. If we wait and do nothing, we're projecting we'll be at 22.5% by the year 2029. That's concerning. Because who has hurt the worst in this? It's your law-abiding, hard-working, lower-income Ohioan Who's gone out and spent the $500 on the state minimum limits To get liability coverage only Because that's all they can afford for their family And on their budget right now They've gone out and done that Well, they're hit by an uninsured motorist on their way to work It disables their vehicle You know what? They can't get it fixed They don't have the money They can't get anything out of the uninsured motorist And now they can't go to work They're out of a job And all of a sudden, the problems start to compound It could have been partially avoided if we had a proactive, modern, technology-based, real-time system like House Bill 678 proposes. So, again, when we talk about affordability, think about that constituent of yours who's out there working their butt off. They're lower income. They're doing what they can, but they're abiding by the law, and they are buying the coverage. They're doing the responsible thing, and yet they're negatively affected by this. We have the ninth lowest rates in the country. So it's affordable. It takes 15 minutes. Before we leave today, you could go online. I wouldn't encourage you to do this. You should go through an agent. But you could go online today, and you could get a policy bound with multiple competitive offers. There is no impediment to getting insurance other than the fact that Ohio does nothing to enforce the law. Nothing to enforce the law right now. That's what the problem is. So 678 is a modern, real-time, online insurance verification system. It was designed, and this bill is based on the Insurance Industry Committee of Motor Vehicle Administration, which is here in large part to assist the BMVs with the enforcement of financial responsibility and compulsory laws. and it's made up of insurance carriers and insurance trade organizations, nine of which are members of it, nine of the top 15 carriers in the state of Ohio. So I'm going to close with this. Why is this the right time? It's the right time to do this, one, because it's a growing problem, but number two, Ohio's auto insurance marketplace is a $9 billion marketplace. 89% of it is written by 15 companies. It's a highly, heavily concentrated marketplace. Those 15 companies, nine of them participate in the IICMVA, so they in some way have helped author the model bill. And secondarily, they're already complying with the laws out there across the country. They're already in compliance. So the overwhelming majority of carriers are already dealing with this in the 20-plus states that have enacted these laws or are implementing them. So I'll close with this. There are states that have done well. Arkansas has reduced it by 4%, their rate by 4%, and they just implemented it in 2020. West Virginia, higher poverty state, lower rate than us on uninsured. It's a group activity driving is. Everyone needs to have insurance. That's the law. Thank you so much for the time and the opportunity to testify.

Ranking Member Grimm? Thank you very much. Just one. I just have one. Thank you so much for being here. I was looking at the fiscal note about this bill and it said it would Department of Public Safety expects to incur contracting costs between and million Do you anticipate any increases in insurance rates because there's going to be now this build out of infrastructure digitally? you'll probably have to do more verification, especially if there are some discrepancies in what the BMV has. Apparently, the system goes down on occasion. So do you expect any insurance rates to go up when this is implemented?

Chair recognizes Vice Chair Daniels with a question.

But you can certainly find carriers that will do it. Just Google it, and, like, it'll take two seconds, and you'll see there's a lot of companies that do cater to that population and are very comfortable with the SR-22 process.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for your testimony. My question surrounds the statement you made where it says improved compliance with insurance requirements and reduced uninsured motorist rates. And you gave a couple examples of a couple of the states, West Virginia and Arkansas, I think you believe. I don't want to say I'm playing devil's advocate, but I'm going to ask the question because I've been told just the exact opposite. it. Is that the case in all states that this has been implemented, that you've seen increased compliance and reduced uninsured, or does it vary? I guess that's the point. Yeah. I

Any other questions from the committee? Chair recognizes Representative McLean.

Yeah, absolutely. Through the chair, Representative McLean. So we do represent all. I mean, we have solo practitioners all the way up to agents that work in publicly traded companies, and the same thing for the insurance carriers. But I'll tell you, representing the independent insurance agents, if you go out to Marion, Ohio, or Bucyrus, Ohio, you'll see our folks represent the small mutuals. They represent the Ohio domicile carriers. And quite frankly, I'm not ashamed to admit it, we have a preference towards those companies. We want to see them thrive and grow because that's how insurance was always intended. It's done locally. It's people, it's neighbors caring for neighbors. It's people who know each other and understand the risks. They do frontline underwriting to ensure that they know who's taking care of their property. They know how businesses are operated. So we are not here advocating for something that's going to have a detrimental impact on the carriers that support us and that we support. So I can promise you that. All I would say is there's a cost to everything. But right now the cost is being borne by those who are abiding by the law Again think of that hardworking lower Ohioan who paying the insurance bill who loses their car to someone who not That who being impacted So other states have implemented this and there are some carriers that don operate outside of Ohio that may be impacted by it Right now in the bill, there's a threshold of 1,000 covered autos where you won't have to build the database, You won't have to comply with the system. You could submit information through a data transfer. So there's an alternative mechanism for that 1,000 or less. But, again, with this, I would just say keep in mind, like, 15 of the top carriers write 89% of the coverage. And so you're talking about 11%. And then 70 carriers write 100% of the private passenger auto coverage. So it is a – it will have an impact. I'm not discounting that, but we don't go at that lightly. Again, we support the Ohio Mutuals and the Wayne Mutuals and the smaller companies out there. So we certainly don't want to see them negatively impacted. But I would add they are today because they're paying claims for someone who didn't buy insurance.

Any other questions from the committee? I would just add that your testimony is amazing and right on point to the fact that we have this is a public trust issue. And I believe that we as a legislature owe it to our constituents to establish that we can provide public trust in the laws that we say that we are going to put forward to be enforced. And it just feels like one of those places where we're not doing that very well. So as we know, the devil is in the details of all these things. So I'd just ask everyone to be very diligent about looking at what this bill says, and how we do it is probably the most important part of that, because we want to not be carrying or pushing another burden onto the companies that are providing the coverage for those constituents who are paying the bills, and all of those things are so closely related. But if we're going to have a system with our Department of Public Safety, I think there's a way to do this without forcing every insurance company to somehow participate by making them do things with the state. I think there's probably a way to do this that allows the state to have the structure that gets the information and doesn't necessarily take it all and house it. I'm not a big fan of the state housing additional data and people's information as it is because I don't think we do it very well. But there is a possibility for us to have access potentially to databases that might be a way that we get this that reduces the burden, puts it on the state where I think it should be as we try to reestablish trust in the law. Thank you. Appreciate that. Next we have Mr. Joe Everett, the Ohio Deputy Registrar Association, here for proponent testimony. Welcome to the committee, sir. The floor is yours.

At this time, are there any questions? That was awesome. Thank you. Hoorah. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Any questions for the witness? And watch out, he is a Marine. All right. Chair recognizes Vice Chair Daniels.

Not in the longer, no.

being private contractors for private entities the one thing that we want to work with everybody on this is to make sure that it's efficient and it makes sense for the customers but at the same time that our employees aren't doing uncompensated work so if you're talking about entering something on behalf of a company separate from somebody coming in and getting a real-time update that would be something that we can definitely talk about and have those conversations yes

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay. Chairman Willis, Vice Chair Daniels, Ranking Member Grimm, and members of the House Transportation Committee, Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testify today as a proponent of House Bill 678. This impactful legislation would enable Ohio to create and utilize an online insurance verification system to ensure auto insurance compliance. My name is Colleen Miles. I'm a licensed independent insurance agent operating my family's insurance agency in Cincinnati, Ohio. Our agency has been in business in Ohio since 1901. I'm a fifth generation of my family to take over the business. I appreciate the chance to speak in support of improving the way we verify auto insurance coverage in Ohio and share perspectives from the day-to-day realities that insured Ohioans face after a crash. For many Ohio drivers, the moments after an accident are stressful on their own, but the stress becomes significantly worse when they learn that the other driver does not have active insurance. These situations are far more common than many expect, and when they occur, the burden almost always falls on the person who did follow the law and maintain coverage. In my role, I'm there to assist my clients as they try to navigate the process following an incident with an uninsured driver. When an accident occurs, one simple question needs answered. Was the other driver insured at the time of the crash? And unfortunately, that question can take days or even weeks to answer with confidence. Law enforcement officers at the scene do their best, but they often rely upon paper insurance cards or cell phones, and they show expired fraudulent or a policy that may have been lapsed. Insurers then spend time tracking down policy status, confirming effective dates, and verifying cancellations, and during this delay, the insured driver is left without answers, without reimbursement, and without any certainty about how their claim will proceed. Uninsured drivers not only impact other drivers on the road, but they can also impact homeowners. I'd like to give you an example of an incident that happened to one of my clients. In the overnight hours of October 8, 2022, Don and Donna Silvernell were enjoying a family vacation when a reckless driver barreled into their home. The driver of the vehicle was traveling at a fast rate of speed, lost control, and slammed into their home, cracking their foundation. The Silvernells were lucky that they were out of town when the incident occurred or they could have been seriously injured Don and Donna Silvernell received a call from their neighbors about the incident They had to cut their family vacation short and rushed home to assess the damage. The impact of the crash was so hard that the floor joists in the home shifted over an inch, causing cracking in the interior walls, damaging the foundation and crumbling the brick exterior. Through the course of the investigation, it was determined the driver was uninsured. The Silver Niles contacted our agency to submit a homeowner's insurance claim after several weeks, and unfortunately, we informed them that they would need to pay their $1,000 deductible. They have never recovered that $1,000, and their homeowner's insurance company, a company right down the street from the Statehouse, ended up footing a $30,000 bill for their home repairs. The Silver Nails have been loyal clients of our agency for over 30 years, and unfortunately, in addition to this uninsured motorist claim, in the time that they've been our clients, they've experienced two other instances of an uninsured driver hitting one of their vehicles. These situations aren't rare. the recurring part of the claims environment in our state. An online insurance verification system would not solve every challenge associated with uninsured motorists, but it would remove one of the largest sources of uncertainty, and it would give law enforcement real-time confirmation of insurance status. It would allow insurers to determine liability far more quickly, and most importantly, it would provide Ohio drivers with confidence that the system works for them when they need it the most. Other states have adopted real-time verification systems and have seen uninsured motorist rates decrease. When the uninsured motorist rate decreases, that leads to fewer disputes, faster claims resolution, and more accurate enforcement of financial responsibility laws. Ohio drivers deserve the same protection. They deserve a system where the insured individual is not left waiting and wondering while insurers, law enforcement, and state agencies try to piece together what should be a simple fact, whether a policy was active at the time of the crash. This is about efficiency, fairness, and ensuring that responsible drivers do not carry unnecessary burdens. It prevents confusion for the insured and protects them from fraudulent or misrepresented insurance information. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for your attention to this issue. Appreciate your leadership, and I'm open for questions.

Yes.

Real quick. So you talked about the process of the claim for the family that had their house hid. In your experience as an agent, how do you think that timeline of when they find out that an uninsured motorist hits them, or trying to wait to find out, I know I've been involved, where you have to wait for the police report in hopes that the police report includes who the insurance company is before you can file the claim. Just briefly explain how that delay affects the claim process.

Any other questions from the committee? Thank you, ma'am, for your testimony today.

And don't buy your insurance online. You heard it here first. And lastly we have but lastly but not least we have Sharon Montgomery for in proponent testimony Welcome to the committee, ma'am. The floor is yours.

Thank you, ma'am, and I did read those. And I would ask everyone to take a look at those because they are important in the process that gets you here to the point of helping us understand a little bit more about the why. And especially bringing it down to the human case of each one of those categories of the people in the chain of events that happen in these cases that is important. Because if we want this to work, we have to consider all those things. So really appreciate your perspective on that. Any questions from the committee? Hearing none, thank you, ma'am, for your testimony. It's greatly appreciated. All right. Thank you all for your patience, and it's been a long committee today. As a reminder, everyone who wishes to provide testimony in the committee, please provide your testimony and witness slips 24 hours in advance. It allows our office to have time to sort through and upload all the information so that we can have it. I wanted to make sure and recognize the fact that we did have written-only testimony in the form of four different individuals to review, and that would stand as the second hearing on House Bill 678. Seeing no other business before the committee, we are at 542 p.m. on 17th of March adjourned.