Your policy does not extend to a car you are test-driving. The owner of that car is responsible for insuring it until they have signed over the title to you. The same applies if you are test-driving a car at the dealership. The dealership policy covers you until you finalize the deal.

Oregon auto insurance law is really clear on this subject. Auto insurance follows the car, not the driver. Only the registered owner can or should buy insurance on a vehicle. Most companies or agents don’t ask who the owner is when they sell you the insurance. They assume you or someone listed on the policy is the registrant.

The point of the whole SR22 process is to assure the DMV that you are complying with the auto insurance laws. You’ve got an SR22 requirement because you failed to carry insurance on a vehicle you were driving, got too many tickets and accidents in a short time, or you got a DUI.

Insurance

The police will know if you have presented an identification card that you manufactured or appears to cover a vehicle that is no longer covered on your existing policy. I just had a Clackamas County deputy call to verify whether a client’s vehicle was listed on the policy. I had no choice but to reveal that the car had been removed from the policy nearly two months prior. He said the DMV computer confirmed that date.