Hundreds of thousands of drivers in California are expected to risk their auto registrations being suspended in the months ahead as the state's latest crackdown on uninsured driving moves into high gear, a report said Wednesday.

California Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV), the state authority for vehicles registration, has notified more than 180, 000 car owners since Oct. 1 for possible suspension of registrations because their cars are uninsured, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The suspension notices follow the department's first systematic comparison of a computerized roster of registered car owners with an electronic list of insured vehicles that is updated by insurance companies every time a driver buys, renews or cancels a policy.

With the new step, the department now has the ability and the authority to suspend registration if car owners could not prove insurance coverage, a department spokesman said.

Experts said the effort, if successful, could be costly for drivers who break the law because they can't afford insurance or simply refuse to buy it.

But the move also would probably bring down the price of insurance for many California drivers, who pay higher premiums to protect themselves in the event they are hit by uninsured drivers.

About 23 percent of drivers in the Los Angeles area, which has one of the highest automobile ownership rates in the United States, are uninsured, with some 1.4 million motorists uncovered by insurance only in the Los Angeles County, according to the latest statistics.

And even though driving without insurance has been illegal in California for nearly 40 years, some 15 percent of accidents in the state involve uninsured motorists, authorities said.

Source: Xinhua