Uninsured motorists in Ohio could have more to worry about than being pulled over by a police officer.

Ohio Department of Public Safety officials have held discussions with executives of a company in Michigan that sniffs out uninsured drivers by providing an instant link between police, red-light cameras and databases of insurance-policy holders.

In March, Sen. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron, introduced a bill that would allow police, red-light cameras and even other motorists to immediately check whether the driver of a car is insured. The bill hasn't been voted out of committee.

State officials have discussed the idea with InsureNet, of Novi, Mich., which bills itself as the only company that provides instant electronic insurance verification.

Nationally, an estimated 24 percent of drivers lack current insurance policies.

Chicago also is negotiating with InsureNet for a system that would use that city's existing red-light and surveillance cameras -- and possibly new cameras -- to verify driver insurance. Chicago officials have said the system could generate as much as $200 million a year, wiping out that city's budget deficit.

The verification system has raised privacy concerns in Chicago. InsureNet says that images of plates belonging to insured drivers are quickly deleted, so no one is keeping a database of license plates.

The proposed system would check license-plate numbers from police and red-light cameras against a database of insured motorists. Drivers who aren't in the database would receive a letter demanding that they verify their insurance or pay a fine if they lack it.

Currently, Ohio checks to make sure drivers have insurance through a random verification process in which 5 percent of drivers receive a notice each year.

By tightening the verification process, Ohio could receive as much as $600 million to $900 million in first-year fees from uninsured motorists who are caught, said Jonathan Miller, chairman of the board of InsureNet.

The fees are $125 for a first violation, $300 for a second violation and $550 for a third or subsequent violation. As more drivers come into compliance with the state's financial-responsibility law, the state's take from fines would decrease.

"We've had a number of discussions with Ohio," Miller said. "There's a lot of great things that could come from this."

Tom Hunter, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said the state hasn't entered into any contracts with InsureNet. He downplayed the seriousness of the discussions with the company.

"Beyond that, we don't have any comment," Hunter said.

jnash@dispatch.com