COMPULSORY INSURANCE.

Southland Times, Issue 20015, 1 November 1926, Page 10

COMPULSORY INSURANCE.

THE MOTORISTS LIABILITY’. Compulsory insurance becomes effective m Massachusetts on January 1, 1927. Over half a million cars will be effected. Schemes are under consideration in other states. It is estimated that only one quarter of the 20,000,000 motor vehicles in the United States are insured. If compulsory insurance becomes universal the annual premium payment will total nearly £80,000,000. Strangely enough the American Automobile Association is opposed to compulsory insurance. It is contended that it will breed recklessness and that it is unfair to make motorists pay £80,000,000 annually to afford protection against the number who are not financially responsible. The thinking motorist will not agree with either of these arguments. It is absurd to assert that any recklessness will show a material increase. If insurance is only paid on damage in excess of £5 or £lO the motorist will not generally risk damaging his car. In respect to the second contention it would seem that America with its cheap cars must contain a large proportion of drivers who could not pay for the most paltry damages. There are several millions of cars in America which cost their owners less than £125. Many must be owned by people who could not afford to run a car at colonial prices. Several automobile associations in New Zealand have approved of the principle of compulsory insurance. Compulsion is necessary for some drivers. Even owners of expensive cars occasionally refuse to take out a policy. If they have an accident through their own negligence they may be open to a claim for more than the value of the car. Again the motorist should be insured against third party risks. There is a class of pedestrian who takes daily risks and relies on the motorist, to give way. The same person is usually prompt with a claim for damages if he is injured. Irrespective of the extent of his own carelessness, he will assume that the motorist always pays. There is a popular fallacy. It is very certain that the motorist pays too often out of sympathy. When a pedestrian is hurt and the motorist has committed no breach of the by-laws or Motor Vehicles Act, he should make no offer to compensate. An offer of

money after an accident will usually be as an admission of liability. It pays to seek legal advice before compensating with the type of person who assumes that motor ownership is a proof of wealth. When a car is insured the insurance company will be responsible for defending any proceedings, and the motorist should not concern himself vrith sympathy. If the motorist has been careless the man will undoubtedly get adequate redress, and the insurance company must pay. The criminally reckless driver can be easily checked under a cpmpulsory insurance scheme. His policy can be cancelled and fitting penalties imposed for the use of an uninsured car.