A Wisconsin senator wanted to make sure uninsured motorists could cash in on the government's Cash for Clunkers program, so he urged the U.S. Transportation Department to change its rules.

Wisconsin is one of two U.S. states that doesn't require drivers to have vehicle insurance—New Hampshire being the other—which would have excluded about 15% of Wisconsin drivers from the federal program, said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

State law in Wisconsin is changing, though. Starting in June 2010, residents of the Badger State will join 48 other states in requiring motorists to have vehicle insurance.

In the meantime, Sen. Feingold said he didn't think it was fair for Wisconsin drivers to miss out on the opportunity to trade in their vehicle for one that gets better gas mileage.

The Car Allowance Rebate System program initially required that a car or truck be insured for at least one year prior to trade-in for a consumer to qualify for the rebate as high as $4,500.

So Sen. Feingold urged Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to change the rule to allow uninsured drivers to qualify for the highly popular program.

“Now with this fix, all Wisconsin drivers who abide by state law are eligible to take part (in the program),” Sen. Feingold said in a statement.

We can just hope that uninsured motorists will manage to avoid crashing their new ride in the meantime.

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