In what is surely good news for the state of Texas and the insurance industry, the state is seeing a marked decline in the number of uninsured motorists on its roadways. This is also good news for anyone is driving in Texas because it means, in the event of a vehicle collision it is now more likely that the other driver will have at least some form of insurance to help cover expenses.

Having proper vehicle insurance is not only polite and a good idea, it is also the law in Texas where a state mandated minimum coverage is now required of all drivers. A state sponsored program called TexasSure was instituted in 2009 and has been largely credited with the recent improvement in the number of insured motorists.

Statistics compiled in June indicate 13 percent of motorists, or about 2.6 million Texans, are driving without minimum insurance coverage, which is a violation of state law. One year ago, the state reported that about 22 percent of all drivers, or 4.2 million people, had no insurance.

“If this number is on target, the rest of Texas drivers can breathe a big sigh of relief that they are now less likely to get into an accident with an uninsured driver. It would appear that the program is becoming a real success,” Sandra Helin of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, an insurance industry group, told The Dallas Morning News.

Texas Department of Insurance spokesman Jerry Hagins said the drop in the number of uninsured drivers resulted both from fixing the state’s driver database to make it more accurate and improved compliance with the mandatory insurance law.