TRENTON, N.J., November 26 – As far as Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex County) is concerned, the auto insurance identification cards should be the same wallet-size as the drivers licenses and registration cards.

They arent, and he introduced legislation for the state to issue wallet-sized auto insurance identification cards so motorists have a better chance of having all three documents together when driving.

The current auto insurance ID card, he said, is three inches by five inches, and 8 1/2 inches long, much too big to fit into a wallet like the smaller drivers licenses and registration cards.

Why not make them all the same size so they can be together in one place? he asked.

No official could explain why they are different sizes.

The state government issues the license and registration, while the ID cards are issued by the car insurance companies, and have been since the state enacted its no-fault auto insurance law in 1973.

Diegnans bill, A.4587, would require insurance companies to issue at least one wallet-sized car insurance ID card along with the larger standard-sized ID card.

He said, A wallet-sized automobile insurance card is intended for convenience of personal storage and ease of accessibility in situations requiring verification of information from all three cards.

Diegnan said he got the idea after a voter complained about the stiff fine of $150 she paid for not having the ID card while driving.

Diegnan said the woman had her registration card and her license in her wallet, but not the auto insurance ID card that she forgot to bring along because it was too large to fit inside the wallet with the other two cards.

She was charged with driving a vehicle without the required insurance ID card and ended up paying a $150 fine. This offense is one of the stiffest for a minor infraction that has nothing to do with how one drives a motor vehicle.

In fact if motorists fail to have the license, the registration, and the ID card with them while driving, they are fined $150 for each offense, and end up paying $450 plus about $50 in court costs.

Motorists also must, within 24 hours of being ticketed, return to traffic court with the three cards to prove they insured, registered, and that they have a drivers license.

There are bills in to cut the fines in half, but none of them have been released from committee let alone brought to the floor for full votes.

Diegnan said the proposed new wallet-sized card would help the motorist not forget an insurance ID card because it would easily fit into the wallet with the two other cards.

The New Jersey Insurance Council opposed the bill because of costs and a cumbersome new system requirement.

Rachel Moore, spokeswoman for the council, representing companies that write 85 percent of the car insurance business in the state, said it would lead to more problems. One of them, she said, would be the need to use a font so small it would be very difficult to read.