One could say that Rhode Island is the state of first and last. It was the first to cede from Britain and the last to ratify the constitution. Obviously a state a founding ancestry, Rhode Island has made its mark on history regardless of its tiny size. The interesting thing about Rhode Island is that it is so small it has a state wide public transportation system. Where most cities have their own transportation system Rhode Island has one that goes the entire state starting at Providence.

Even though there is a transportation system that goes throughout the state you may decide that you want to drive your own car. There’s nothing that beats the convenience of driving. You don’t have to wait for someone to show up to pick you up or be regulated to their schedule of when you will get there. If you’re going to drive your own car you will need to know what the car insurance requirements are so that you stay legal.

When you register your car to Rhode Island you have two sign a statement pledging that you will maintain the minimum required car insurance on your vehicle at all times. The minimums for Rhode Island are 25/50/25. This means that you must keep $25,000 in bodily injury insurance for each person injured in an accident that you are involved in, and $50,000 in bodily injury insurance to cover all persons in the same accident. This coverage is called liability insurance because you may be liable for the damages and injury that the other party incurred due to the accident if it was your fault.

The other part of this sequence of numbers is the amount of money that has to be covered for property damage. You’ll need to have $25,000 to replace or repair any physical property that is been damaged by your vehicle if you caused the accident.

Understand now that these are just minimums. You’ll want to look at possibly having higher limits to make sure that you’re protected in the event of an accident. Car accidents are notoriously expensive and the odds that you’ll end up paying out of your own pocket if all you have are the minimum requirements are very high. Consider also the fact that Rhode Island is the tort system state, which means that someone must be found at fault in the accident. If that someone is you than the full financial responsibility for reparations falls upon you and your insurance company. Your insurance company is only going to pay to the maximum limit you purchased with your coverage.

You may also want to consider purchasing personal injury protection coverage so that you and your passengers have your medical expenses covered regardless of who is at fault in the accident. Another coverage you may want to consider is uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance. In the event the accident is the other person’s fault they may have no insurance or not enough insurance to take care of all of your expenses and cannot afford to pay for it out of their own pocket. This type of insurance coverage assures you that your expenses will be covered no matter what.

With the average insurance policy costing $817 a year in Rhode Island you really can’t afford not to get yourself covered.