Mississippi governor Haley Barbour vetoed a bill that would have set up a state-run verification system to identify and ticket uninsured motorists. According to 2009 research from the Insurance Research Council, Mississippi’s uninsured-driver rates are among the highest in the nation. The IRC estimated that in 2007 28 percent of Mississippi’s drivers didn’t have coverage.

According to a news release, Gov. Barbour says he’s open to an amended version of the legislation because he does not oppose the concept of a verification. “Once the language in the bill is cleaned up, these agencies will be able to develop a workable system to verify motor vehicle liability insurance coverage of the vehicles on the highway. Toward that end, I am amenable to including this in the next special session,” Barbour told Insurance Journal.

The verification system would be a statewide database that contains insurance policy information from insurers. It would be matched up with registration information so that law enforcement officers could get the information quickly in the field. Gov. Barbour told reporters that he needs more information about the cost of the system and the new requirements by the Department of Public Safety.