June 6–13, 1996

hit and run

Free Lance

Lance Haver has registered and insured his car in the Poconos, but as of June 3 he's still driving Philly's streets.

Haver has challenged DA Lynne Abraham to bust him for auto insurance fraud (City Beat 5/17). Haver, a consumer activist and perennial mayoral candidate, argues that Abraham's crackdown on rate evaders — folks who register their vehicles outside Philly to pay lower insurance rates — is illegal. Moreover, Haver maintains that Abraham is nothing more than a glorified collector hired by the insurance industry. Haver says this because Abraham's office used a $200,000 grant from the insurance industry to warn rate evaders of pending prosecution.

"I'm free," Haver says. "I still haven't been arrested."

Bill Davol, Abraham's spokesman, says Haver hasn't been arrested for a reason. Davol notes that Haver has yet to mislead his insurance company.

"The fraud is when you lie on your insurance application," Davol says. "The fact that you register your car in the Poconos or Tasmania is meaningless."

As for Haver's publicity stunt, Davol claims the activist is misguided.

"Lance should be for this program," Davol says. "He's banging us for [insurance] red-lining, all kinds of things that we have no mandate for. Our mandate is to prosecute criminals. And rate evasion is a crime."

For his part, Haver shows no sign of backing down. Haver is still planning to hire an attorney in order to sue Abraham. Haver wants to use the courts in order to block any prosecution of rate evaders.

— Scott Farmelant