“The insurance companies provide a real-time portal into their actual data,” Combs said. “So whenever you go to get an insurance policy, as soon as it gets into their database, it is available to law enforcement, tag agents, court clerks, all the users of the system, district attorneys for their program, and it can be verified.”

The department provides a “hot list” to UVED each day listing vehicles tagged in Oklahoma but lacking an attached insurance policy, Combs said. The Oklahoma Tax Commission’s list of registered vehicles and the OID’s policy registry are cross-referenced, making a narrowed list of license plates to scan rather than every Oklahoma-tagged vehicle.

UVED uses the hot list specific to the image’s date. Arnall Couch said this makes enforcement more reliable and effective. If a violation is picked up March 15, even if the vehicle owner gets insurance the next day, they still must enroll in the program for having driven without coverage, Arnall Couch said. The program entails a driver purchasing automotive coverage and agreeing to keep it for two years.