DETROIT, MI -- Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and a handful of citizens are suing the state over "unfair and inequitable" no-fault insurance rates.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday, Aug. 23 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against the state's insurance commissioner.

It seeks to have the state's no-fault auto insurance law declared unconstitutional and then give the governor and Legislature six months to revise the law. If state leaders cannot find a solution, a judge should strike the no-fault law and order a return to a common-law tort system.

"The No-Fault Act has failed Michigan at every turn," according to the lawsuit.

As evidence the system is broken, lawyers for Duggan say the average annual auto insurance premium in Michigan is $3,059, more than double the average annual premium in Ohio ($1,236), Illinois ($1,158), Indiana ($1,365) and the nation ($1,512).

In Detroit, the average annual rate is $6,107, the lawsuit claims.

"The high cost of auto insurance in Michigan puts significant economic pressure on an already financially strapped population," according to the lawsuit.

Duggan claims the current no-fault system discriminates against low-income residents.

"This law is causing thousands of people across Michigan to break the law by driving without insurance because they simply can no longer afford it," Duggan said in a statement.

Without citing specific sources, lawyers for Duggan content that nearly half of Detroit's drivers are uninsured motorists.

Legislators and insurance groups weighed in Thursday about Duggan's legal effort.

"We agree with Mayor Duggan that Michigan's auto no-fault system is broken, outdated and has forced Michigan drivers to pay some of the highest auto insurance premiums in the country because it lacks common sense cost-controls and has become a welcome mat for fraud," said Pete Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Alliance of Michigan.

"We are currently reviewing the lawsuit and will reserve further comment until then, but we agree with the mayor that the Legislature should enact real reforms to fix the broken, outdated auto no-fault system to bring much-needed relief to Michigan drivers," he said.

Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit, said: "Transportation, or lack thereof, is a civil rights issue. On that, the Mayor and I agree. However, instead of politicizing the issue and trying the circumvent the legislative process, it is time to focus on solutions that address the underlying cause of high auto insurance rates in a community (Detroit) which is 80 percent African American by addressing red-lining and the use of non-driving factors, which help to perpetuate the cycle of poverty."