A lot of police departments have policies that state a car gets towed if it has no insurance, I wish they would have done that to you. I'd rather have 10 people on the road with no license than 1 without insurance. It's not about you being screwed, it's about the person you may be at fault in an accident with getting screwed.
I could have not said that any better.
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.