COMPULSORY INSURANCE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17880, 28 September 1923, Page 5

COMPULSORY INSURANCE.

ENGLISH WRITER'S VIEWS. Compulsion, writes Mr J. Owen, in tho London "Referee,"' is one of the best-hated words in the English language, even when the need exists for its enforcement. But what shall be said for compulsion when it is wholly unnecessary, as it is in the case of car insurance? Yet, unnecessary though it is, the Government have under consideration a scheme, which, if adopted, will compel all motor vehicle users adequately to insure them and themselves and other people who by mischance or carelessness are injured by them. The main object, it would seem, is to prevent anyone avoiding payment in the event of an accident when they have been assessed in damages for neglect. How many cases are on record, I am wondering, in which responsibility has been shirked in this way, and how many motorists are there who are not properly covered by insurance against risks of tho kind? Wo shall want information on theso points, and also on what is likely to be the psychological effect 011 users who hold the superstitious view that to insure against accident is to meet with an accident. If compulsory insurance becomes law, it is reasonable to suppose that it will be another burden like tho iniquitous engine tax, in that owners will be paying for periods when they are not actually using their cars. They do that now, but with that comforting assurance that they can still use their cars if their premiums are out of date. They can do so now without insuring at all. But once it is made compulsory you may not take your car out of the garage until (a) you have first paid the engine tax, and (b) the insurance tax.

What About the Premiums? Then there is the amount of tho premiums to consider. On what scale will the insurance bo based? Obviously on tho lines of the engino tax, by which 25 per cent, increase at least will be added for quarterly policies. It is doubtful, indeed, if the insurance people would agree to anything less than a yearly policy, in which case the average user would be paying for several months in the year when his car is laid U P- ... I am a great believer m insurance in all forms, and it should be the first purpose of every motorist to cover himself adequately against risks, and those who can afford it do so, but there are many small car owners who cannot do moro than to cover themselves against fire and theft. Are they to be warned off the road because of this, and what will happen to the older cars, which by reason of their age and worn condition are more liable to meet with an accident than a new vehicle? There will be no insurance rebate on them like the engine rebate on old cars. Logically they should be assessed higher, but whatever the amount is it will make them harder to dispose of. As I see it the insurance tax would be indirectly another tax on the sale of new cars and thereby restrict output, and for these reasons alone I shall hope that the motor organisations will keep a watchful eye on the proposal.

CHECK ON SPEED.

The free-speed advocates have received a nasty set-back by the edict issed by t he Chief Commissioner of Police against dangerous driving. "With the view of suppressing what is called the ugly rushes of motor vehicles, the public are invited to help the police, and to report any case of recklessness they might observe. A similar request was made by Sir William Horwood's predecessor some years ago, but I cannot recall a single ease in which the public interfered, and I doubt very much if they will interfere now, as any case brought against private motorists or omnibus companies would involve giving evidence of a technical character that to be legally effective would have to comply with all the conditions of traffic.

A point arising out of the present campaign to check dangerous driving in London is its effect on other large towns, which are certain to increase their vigilance, while in the country it will stimulate the demand for ten-mile limits. In many parts of London the speed of motor vehicles, including motor omnibuses, is greater than it :s in the country, and is due to the everinereasing number of compulsory stopping places, and the lack of proper control by a central traffic authority. There is too much traffic on the streets, and I am not sure that it would not bo a good plan to limit the number of vehicles coming cityward from a radius of a mile or two of Charing Cross between the hours of 10 and 4.

CATERPILLARS FOR THE COLONIES.

The Albion Motor Car Co., Glasgow, manufacturers of the well-known Albion vehicles, are at present carrying out some interesting experiments wztli a form of caterpillar track instead of the ordinary road wheels. Needless to say, if such a device is found in any way to be a practical business proposition, and not too costly in wear and tear, there is ample scope for such a vehicle in many of the leastdeveloped States of the Empire, where, owing to the difficulties of transport, cultivation of the land is confined to a very limited distance on each side of the road. Already, very considerable interest has been taken in this matter by traders and Government Departments overseas, and more particularly in East and West Africa, and certain parts of Australia, on account of the wide experience the Albion Company have gained in cultivating motor transport requirements there, and as a result of their efforts a further development of whole districts at present outside -he pale of practical and profitable cultivation is expected.