DES MOINES, Iowa— Iowa drivers who fail to carry proof that they can pay damages in a car accident should not let problems with the law stop them from complying with it, Iowa’s top public safety official said Tuesday.

“I think it’s wrong to say that that statute is not going to be enforced because that’s not correct,” Public Safety Commissioner Paul Wieck said.

At issue is a law that went into effect July 1 that requires drivers to have either car insurance or proof of “financial responsibility.” Not having that proof is a simple misdemeanor, punishable by a $250 fine.

It is not mandatory car insurance.

Wieck said the attorney general’s office has found “technical problems” that could cause problems when cases go to court.

“The enforcement of that particular statute is not being pushed all that aggressively until such time that those technical difficulties have been sorted out,” he said. “My expectation is that what you are going to see out in the field is more use of warnings than citations.”

Among the concerns is the $250 fine. Iowa law says simple misdemeanors are punishable by fines of up to $100.

The law also authorizes police to confiscate the license plates from a vehicle whose owner cannot prove financial responsibility. But the driver has 24 hours to produce proof, so there could be cars without license plates on the road.

Some police are steering clear of the law until the problems are worked out.

“We enforced it for a short period until we got notice from the county attorney,” said Hiawatha Police Chief Dave Saari. “We’re not doing anything with it until we get it sorted out.”

Rep. Clyde Bradley, R-Camanche, sponsored the bill last year and said a bill introduced in the House on Tuesday would take care of the concerns.

Bradley said the problems were unintended and easy to fix, which House Majority Leader Brent Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs, said would be done this session.

“What we have here, I think, is one of the better bills in the country,” Bradley said. “Basically, everybody’s very happy with it. I’ve had a lot of good reports relative to the number of people who now have insurance who have never had it before.”