Evening star., 1924-09-16
THE TRAFFIC PROBLEM
BY ERNEST GREENWOOD

clusively by the State This means
new departments, many new jobs and
an added burden of indirect taxation
to be borne by the noa-automobile
owners as we'll as the owners. Con-
sequeRtly, a certain class of poll
ticians are urging it in "a States.
X y X
Insurance companies in their search
>or accident prevention measures are
paying more and more attention to
the theft hazard. There is very
definite relationship between stolen
automobiles and accidents Stolen
cars are most often used for quick
getaways" Thefts Of high-speed
| cars are increasing rapidly and
creating a material hazard on the
highways. The motor car lends itself
easily to banditry, and any reduction
of this theft hazard will result in a
| reduction of the highway hazard,
| thereby contributing to accident pre-
vention.
Legislation requiring the certifica-
tion OF title to Il car is being advo-
Gated as a means of theft prevention
| and some States have adopted it. II
all States would pass similar meas
ures it would practically put a stop
to thefts of cars for the purpose of
selling them. but would not put a
stop to the theft of cars for joy-rid-
ing or for temporary use for illegal
purposes. For the purpose OF pre-
venting the latter classes Of thefts
insurance companies are giving re-
duced premium rates on cars equip
ped with certain types of locks. The
question arises as TO whether or not
all policies should contain d war
ranty providing that the company
will not be liable for loss from theft
if the car is not equipped with an
adequate lock which the insured
guarantees to keep in good working
order and use.
Unfortunately the courts are too
often inclined TO be lenient with
young persons who borrow" a car
for a few hours of joy-riding. The
joy-rider is one OF the greatest
menaces on the road and is at the
/ head Of the class Of irresponsibles.
The mere taking Of another persons
car is prima facie evidence of maxi
mum degree Of irresponsibility and
this class Of offender should be &C
| corded treatment quite as severe as
the deliberate thief who takes a car
| for either the purpose of selling it
or for some illegal purpose.
x = 4
1t is not difficult to visualize the
| important place occupied by insur-
ance in any accident prevention pro-
| gram. 1t has a contribution to make
| to almost every phase of *. Even
| when dealing with such subjects as
| city planning and coming or engi-
| neering and construction, the expe-
rience and conclusions reached By the
underwriters are invaluable. The
| physical conditions in congested
| areas which seem to be within the
7
| and the engineer arc all reflected in
the insurance hazard, in the loss ratio
and in premium rates. 1t is, however.
| extremely difficult for the automobile
| insurance writer to follow the lead
| of the fire companies in the matter
OF inspection. The fire hazard is
| fixed; it is always in the same plac :.
The automobile hazard, however, is
! mobile; il is here today and in
| another State tomorrow. With an
| adequate and uniform system of
licensing drivers and of reporting ac-
cidents the insurance companies can
introduce the moral hazard into auto
! mobile underwriting and. travelling
around the circle, the fact that a
| driver has been refused insurance
could be taken into consideration
| when acting on an application for a
license or for its renewal.
lHdt the urltGr OF an autOmO bill e
should be able and willing to COM
| pensate for any damage he may do
admits of no argument. II he has
no assets and does not even own the
car he is driving some means for
guaranteeing the public against
financial loss must be found. 1t has
| been suggested that legislation max
| ing the actual owner of the car re-
sponsible would provide this guaran-
| tee. This would make it possible to
seize the car. at least. Further
| more, it would cause all automobile
dealers selling cars on time for a
| small cash payment and a bundle of
| promlssory notes TO require their
| purchasers to carry liability insur-
| ance- If these time payment pur-
chasers could not obtain liability in
surance-and the underwriters should
scrutinize this class of risks most
| carefully-then the sale would not
| be consummated and one more men
ace would be kept of the streets.
| Copyright, 1924. By. Current News Features.