Evening star., 1924-09-16
ARTICLE VIII.

The place or insurance in any safe
ty and accident prevention program
Is too often regarded AZ that of Of
ficial bearer of a financial apologize.
1t Is said that the insurance COM
panies are not concerned with an ac-
cident until after it has happened: !:
that their sole function Is to indem-
nifty the insured after his loss due to
the accident.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. There is probably no organi-
zation or group Of organizations
spending more time or money on the
study of accident prevention than
the insurance companies. The Ma
tional Bureau of Casualty and Surety
Underwriters, the membership of
which includes practically all Of the
stock companies writing various lines
of automobile insurance with the ex-
ceptlon OF hre, has research depart
ment devoted entirely to this work.
In addition to this the bureau contrib
utes heavily to the work of the Ma
tional Safety Council. Life insurance
companies, recognising that the mo-
| tor vehicle has introduced a factor
| into life insurance not in their CAL
| culations when the mortality tables
were designed, are also vitalIy inter-
ested in street and highway safety.
X
While admitting that the primary
function OF insurance is to pay the
loss caused by the accident, the COM
panles are extremely active in pre-
vention work. While they are ac-
| tuated in the first instance by the
purely humanitarian aspects of a pro-
gram of conservation of life and lin b,
they approach the subject from the
practical point of view Of the loss
81 iS- -
eter OF traffic accidents and the ex-
pcrience of the companies is of the
greatest value in lowering the acct
dent rate.
In this connection insurance has a
material ard practical argument to
offer in favor. Of the organization of
communities for accident prevention.
II the accident rate is lowered the
loss ratio will be lowered, and as the
loss ratio is reduced the premium
| rate naturally follows A community
! can actually save money as well as
lives by adopting those expedients
which will reduce the number Of
traffic accidents on its streets. Save
| money in automobile insurance pre-
miums,' says the insurance man, by
cutting down your accidents"
strange as it may seem, insurance
executives are generally opposed to
compulsory automobile insurance. AS
a matter of fact, while it would in
crease the volume of business il
would multiply hazards and losses
amazingly and inject into the situa-
tion a thousand new complications
Miles Dawson, the New York insur-
! ance astuary, says these increas sed
J losses would increase the premium
mobile insurance rates would be
doubled. Phillip o. Deitsch, secre-
| tary of the Maryland Motor Fedora
| ton. characterizes the bill for COM
| pulsory insurance introduced in that
| State as IAN asinine and discriminatory
| piece of legislation
| K K ::
| From the standpoint OF safety an
automobile policy is Of no value whatso-
! ever. Its possession docs not make
! the recklessly inclined driver more
! cautious; If anything il gives him q
sense OF security which tends TO make
! him more reckless. He has shifted
| the responsibility for his reckless
ness on the broad shoulders of in
| surance. While it does assure the
public of some compensation if a
driver bumps pedestrian into King
| dom Come il is in no sense a pre-
ventive measure. A majority OF ac-
cidentS are caused by irreSponsibles
preventable. But they cannot be pre-
vented by the assumption of respon-
sibility by insurance for damage done
by the criminaily inclined and the in
| competent.
Furthermore, II liability policy
shall be precedent to the issuance Of
! license, as the proponents Of this
! scheme claim. it has the effect of
making the underwriters say who
shall and who shall not drive auto
mobiles. II the underwriters get
| loose and begin to write everybody
! it will create an equally intolerable
! situation.
! Compulsory automobile insurance
will also open the door for a new
drive for monopolistic State funds
| 'egislating all insurance companies
out of the automobile insurance field
! Advocates Of the compulsory insur-
ance, whether it be workmen's COM
pensation or automobile or any other
form, claim that insurance demand ed
! by the State should be furnished ex-