Uninsured drivers cost Washington state taxpayers more than $80 million a year.

Yet a bill to reduce the number of drivers without insurance died this week in the state legislature.

KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy shows why you are left paying the price.

"I did feel suicidal for quite some time thinking. Why did God, or whatever, let me live?" asked Leslie Jewett.

Jewett said her life will never be the same.

"I can't walk. I felt like a completely useless waste of society."

Jewett was standing on a sidewalk, waiting to board a bus after work in north Seattle in May of 2006.

She had just graduated from the University of Washington, and was looking forward to a career in photography, when a car slammed into her at more than 100 mph.

"I broke my one leg in three places. I broke five ribs. I broke bones in my face. I broke bones in the back of my skull. I'm in constant pain."

But what pains Jewett most is her loss of independence.

"I used to be a working, contributing member of society. I'm a taker from society, and I don't want to be there."

Jewett and her attorney say the reason she must now rely on family members and taxpayers for support is because the driver who struck her was uninsured.

Question: "If the motorist who hit her had been insured, how would it be different?"

"It would be different in that, at least it would maybe help with some of her expenses. It would help to defray. It would help to hold the person accountable," said J.D. Smith, Jewett's attorney.

In the state of Washington, uninsured -- and under-insured -- motorists cost taxpayers more than $80 million a year, even though it's law to have insurance.

The state also has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country. Nearly 17 percent of drivers are uninsured. And even more get into accidents.

"Roughly 21.5 percent of drivers who get involved in accidents in the state of Washington are uninsured," said Karl Newman of the Northwest Insurance Council.

Rep. Dean Takko of Longview says it's a hot-button issue in his district.

"I'm consistently having people say, ‘When are you going to do something about uninsured motorists? My kid got hit last week, or my wife last month,’ so there's always a story," Takko said.

For the past two legislative sessions, Takko has proposed a bill that would allow the state to randomly send out mailers to 3 percent of registered car owners per year, requiring them to mail in proof of insurance.

"If you don't, then the next time you come in to register your car, there'll be a $50 penalty," Takko said.

"It keeps people from going out and buying an insurance policy, showing they have it, and then cancelling their insurance."

That's what NancyLee Davidson says one of the uninsured motorists who hit her did.

"Her card was good. It was a six-month card issued by the insurance company, of which she only paid 30 days and defaulted," Davison said.

Davidson says she's been hit five times by uninsured motorists, who all left her with huge out-of-pocket expenses.

"Over the five, now you're talking some major money."
"How much?"
“I would say 20, between 20 and 25,000."
"Of your own money?"
"Oh, yeah."

Davidson and Leslie Jewett feel state law should be much stricter than the current $250 fine for being caught without insurance.

And stricter than what Representative Takko is asking for.

Davidson would like the state to require proof of insurance when drivers get their emissions tested or renew their tabs.

Or do what's done in 22 states, and suspend the drivers licenses of the uninsured. Or hand down jail time as those not in compliance face in 12 states.

In Iowa, an offender's car can even be towed away.

All tough sells here in Washington, according to Takko,who saw his bill die again earlier this week, without even a vote.

"It's kind of frustrating that there is the resistance that there is in the legislature to try and move this along."

Jewett's attorney believes Takko's law would have been a good start.

"I know that people who may have to send these in, may feel that they are being punished, and they haven't done anything wrong, but anything we can do is a start," said J.D. Smith.

His client knows that even if the driver who struck her had been insured, it might not have prevented the accident. But might have prevented the helplessness that followed.

"I feel like a beggar, and I feel like I'm in prison,” Leslie Jewett said. “I feel I got the life sentence that he should have got. I'm stuck in a wheelchair. I'm stuck in constant pain. I'm stuck with no money."

And if you can't afford insurance, you shouldn't be driving.

But enforcement is a lot tougher than that, as representative Takko has learned over the past two sessions he's tried to put more teeth into our state's uninsured motorist law -- and failed.

Because there are so many drivers out there without any coverage, the Northwest Insurance Council recommends that all drivers carry uninsured motorist coverage, on top of their automobile liability insurance.