Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-11-08
Motorists Have New Responsibilities
State CURLING Habitually Reckless Drivers
BY Clark Belden

United States were killed and dis
abled by automobiles in 1925--a daily
average Of IS killed and 1870 injured.
War itself Is apparently less deadly
than automobile ACCIDENTS. Over
twice as many Americans we're killed
and injured by automobiles last year
alone as in the entire Weld War.
One problem created by the auto
mobiles growing toll concerns the
ability of motorists causing these
accidents to render adequate flnan-
cial recompense to the victims or
their families. Many of the half mil
lion persons injured last year were
forced to meet hospital, surgical and
medical bills toward which expenses
the person who injured them con-
tributed nothing.
Several factors have combined to
! emphasize the growing Importance
Of the motorists financial RESPONSE
bility-or the lack of 1t.
Automobile accidents recently took
their place as the leading cause of
, accidental fatalities. With 20,000000
| automobiles and several times that
number Of pedestrians forced to use
| one common spot-our streets and
| highways-at the same time for
| many hours each day. this is hardly
| surprising. Few persons will be
| startled at the statement Of Hon.
Robert S. Marx, Judge of the Su-
| perior Court of Cincinnati, that to-
day three -fourths of all civil jury
trials are concerned with personal
injury claims largely arising from
| automobile accidents"
| Another factor that heightens the
financial irresponsibtlity problem
! rests in the fact that only 16 per cent
I Of all automobile owners carry
liability insurance, ranging from one
owner in six to one in three in differ
ent states. The fact that 81 per cent
of automobile owners have no re-
| sponsible financial agency behind
them, in case they kill or injure
somebody, or damage property. is not
in itself alarming. Not even from
the viewpoint of potential automobile
accident victims-which nearly all of
us are. But when we realize that
thousands of these persons have in
reserve beyond their daily operating
expenses hardly the proverbial red
cent we, as potential victims, dis
cover that financial responsibility
strikes close to home-if, indeed, 1t
has not already struck.
We are not surprised that thou
sands of automobile owners could not
I-even if they would-pay US a dollar
if they disabled us when we discover
that one-half of the country's auto
mobile owners receive incomes of
less than $4,000 per year and that one
quarter receive less than S1,500 per
year. The automobile has indeed
become the poor mans friend.
The problem of the automobile
owner who lacks the means of COM
pensating for any injury he may
cause has been broadened by the fact
that IS per cent of all the cars sold
today are purchased upon the install
ment basis-in many cases by per-
sons of extremely limited means. The
ability to obtain new car for a
small initial payment coupled with
the increasing supply and lower
prices of second hand cars enables
people to become automobile owners
today who formerly contented them
selves with trolleys, buses, railroads
walking or not getting there at all.
The universal use of the automo-
bile has altered our scheme of life
The automobile has conquered dis
lance. 1t has linked city and coun-
try To those of limited environ
ments, it has made possible an en-
joyment of adjacent centers. Fol
business. it has accomplished vast
practical results. For recreation, il
is veritable life saver. Yet it has
brought a problem. A person may
be disabled tomorrow for six weeks
or six months and have thrust upor
him the consequent medical, surgica
and hospital eXpenses-not to men
ton deprecated income-without
being able to obtain from the person
| who laid him low even so much as q
couple of two-cent stamps witt
which to mail his checks to the doc
! tor and the hospital upon recovery.
The property owning motorist usu-
ally carries automobile liability anC
property damage insurance to pro-
tect himself from the results of per
sonal injury suits. The more prop.
erty he has the more INSURANCE he
usually carries. The self-preserva
ton instinct-the common sense oil
holding onto what you have-urges
this course. The size and frequency
; of the automobile liability damage
verdicts awarded by juries in recent
Years has encouraged this tendency
terdicts of $4,000 or $4,000 anC
higher are awarded so frequently to.
lay that often they no longer make
Nor is 1t necessary to kill a person
or a jury to award III verdict
Broken arms, legs or ribs alone arc
often valued as high as that by
juries.
The less property a motorist owns
The less he is inclined to carry in
aurance-unless he be the type of IN
dlvlduol who visualizes clearly ana
takes seriously his responsibility to
his potential victim Many persons
lacking property, however, do not
"~oiect their tnring beyond them
selves. Some assetless motorists dc
not fear a $4,000 injury suit in the
slightest. Legally, they have little
cause to fear one. Their attitude
would be apt to be, in the language
OF the street: "Try and get it,"
Such a situation suggests the de-
STABILITY of legislation to protect
potential victims of automobile ac-
neutrality-suspicious.. The more di-
rectly temporary C'~abinty hight
affect pedestrian or his death might
affect his family. the more serious
the danger to that individual or fam
lily. The State seems justified in
assuring its citizens financial protec-
tion; 1t now regulates many other
phases OF the automobiles operation.
OF the many administrative and
legislative problems brought about
by the automobile, that of financial
irresponsibility has remained I'M
solved. It's solution seems beset with
perplexing questions.
A characteristic of modern civil
ization is the theory that the rights
OF society as a whole are greater
than those Of any invidual or group
or individuals. When the acts of the
individual are destructive he is held
f! accountable to his fellows. The ir-