Store Research
Proposition 213 of 1996
as adopted in the General Election of November 5, 1996
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Proposition 213, pertaining to the recovery of damages by convicted felons and uninsured motorists and proposing to add Civil Code sections 3333.3 and 3333.4, was approved by California voters on November 5, 1996. (See Exhibit A, #1, page 102 and #9) The proposition was placed on the ballot as an initiative measure, and sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, responding to the fact that similar bills had been killed in the Legislature. (See Exhibit A, #2, page 4; #5, page 51; #7, page 135; and #8, documents PC-8 and PC-9)
In the California Ballot Pamphlet, an analysis of the proposition prepared by the Legislative Analyst entitled “Limits on Uninsured Motorists and Drunk Drivers,” stated, in part:
Under existing law, someone who has suffered an injury in a car accident may sue the person, business, or government at fault for the injury in order to recover related losses. These losses can include both economic losses (such as lost wages, medical expenses, and property damage) and noneconomic losses (such as pain and suffering).
This measure would prohibit the recovery of noneconomic losses in certain car accidents. Specifically, an uninsured driver or a driver subsequently convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (“drunk drivers”) at the time of an accident could not sue someone at fault for the accident for noneconomic losses. (These drivers could still sue for economic losses.) If, however, an uninsured motorist is injured by a drunk driver in an accident, the
uninsured motorist could still sue to recover noneconomic losses from the drunk driver.
(See Exhibit A, #1, page 49)