The government is in the business of protecting you on the road - seriously
In most parts of the country, having car insurance is more than just a protection from the perils of reckless drivers or those that just might want to relieve you of your belongings; it’s the law! Some states even enable their law enforcement personnel to run random checks on vehicles on the road to see if they are indeed insured. A few simple keystrokes and mouse clicks inside of a trailing patrol car can quickly reveal whether or not your vehicle is up to date on your insurance coverage, and armed with only that bit of information, the officer has the legal right to pull you over and write you a sizeable citation for letting your insurance lapse. (In some states a lapse in insurance will also cause your vehicle registration to immediately become suspended, and the state government could be sending you a fine without you ever being stopped by a law enforcement officer.)
This may sound a bit like a “big brother” scenario; where your information is too easily accessible, but consider the alternative: if the law did not intercede for us, we would have untold numbers of uninsured drivers on the road, and should you ever be so unfortunate as to have a run in with one of these drivers, you would likely end up eating the entire cost of any damages to your vehicle. Being unlucky enough to have an accident with a driver who does not have car insurance means that you do not have the option of suing there insurance company to cover your damages; leaving you to have to sue the individual, and a person that dares to drive without insurance will usually not have the wherewithal to pay for the dents, dings and bangs that you could be left with.
The next time you venture out onto the roads, stop for a moment and consider; what would the end result of even a fender bender with an uninsured driver be for you? As you consider the possible outcomes you’ll be forced to deal with (finding an affordable repair shop, back and forth “negotiations” with the other driver, hiring an attorney to eventually file suit against the other driver and then having to pay for all of the above out of pocket - because the other driver claims indigence), you will begin to appreciate the protection that the government has afforded you by requiring that the driver next to you must be insured. Now that you can rest easy on that issue - you can focus on making it over the hills and through the woods, to grandmother’s house you go.
