Evening star., 1927-11-24
Compulsory Law Is Popular
With Most Motorists,
Survey Reveals.
@ BY WILLIAM ULLMAN.
fAutomobile Editor Of The Star.l

economic problem. 1t Is estimated
that at least 60 per cent of the owners
and operators Of motor vehicles Of
Massachusetts do not carry personal
liability insurance. Thus in many in.
stances the injured party has no re.
dress.
II recommend that careful cOnsid-
GRAFTON be given to legislation which
would require owners and drivers Of
motor vehicles to furnish security
for liability for personal injuries or
death caused by their motor vehicles v
Put on Statute Books
Thus it came about in time that
the Bay State Legislature put it upon
the statute books OF the Common.
wealth that all Massachusetts auto.
mobile owners. before being permitted
to operate a car, must take out in
sutance TO compensate possible VIC
Tins OF their negligence or reckless.
ness
That Is the sole reason why Mas
sachusettS adopted compulsory auto
mobile liability Insurance. There upon
that lone motive stand the sponsors
Of the legislation.
Opponents of the law. in their en-
deavors to head off its adoption in
other States, however, charge that it
was urged as an accident preventive
and that, instead, it has increased &C.
cidents.
No such distortion Of the truth can
change the fact that personal can
vass and survey OF the situation
shows financial redress for victims
Of accidents was the single object of
the laws proponents and that safer
cars and saner drivers are, SO to speak,
happy by.product of it's adoption.
1t is the personal opinion Of The
Stars representative that principle
| of and formula for safety unpara lleled
| in the history of automobile legislation
are inherent in the law, in that 1t
provides simple yet marvel0usly
comprehensive system Of determining
accident causation. This, all safety
advocates agree, has been the most
vital need and at the same time the
I, greatest stumbling block of all efforts
| to find a remedy for the Nations
motor menace.
Opponents Called Selfish.
Massachusetts officials are impress.
Sive in the thoroughness with which
| they have tabulated the opponents OF
/
In the objections of each they see a
narrow, selfish viewpoint.
Among the laws chief critics they
cite the automobile manufacturers
This group. it is pointed out. sees the
compulsory insurance law as re-
sistance to the sale of automobiles
One OF their organizations primary
| functions is to eliminate sales resist.
ance forces. and therein, as Bay State
| officials see 1t, is their opposition to
the statute.
| Then there are the finance compa.
MES. organizations deeply concerned
with the wide sale of cars to persons
who must buy on time.
| Another quarter from which comes
| opposition, now growing more passive,
is the automobile dealer. He Is de.
| clared to see the law as a vital factor
| in reducing used car sales, thus ren.
| derirg more complex his most diff.
| cult problem. Sponsors of the law
| answer this with the statement that
OF course. compulsory insurance has
| affected used car sales, but only the
| sale of cars so decrepit that they be-
| long to the junk heap and not on the
| highway.
National motoring agencies also are
here the Bay State throws down the
| gauntlet and challenges executives of
this group to prove that their opposi.
| ton is not based upon special inter.
ests of individuals on their boards OF
directors. Massachusetts, Officialdom
| declares that this attitude Is not rep
resentative of motor clubs member
| ship. because 1t is common knowledge
that motorists of this character are
insured and thus committed to the
principle that this form of protection
is highly sound.
| Also, of course, there are the in
| surance companies whose executives
as was pointed out in yesterdays
Star, continue to see the specter OF
State insurance. or. If not that, State
supervision of rates which generally
means lowered rates
Individual motorists form another
class of opponents. This class in
cludes those persons who have a very
small interest In the cars they drive
boast that they have nothing to pro
tect with insurance and recognize nc
moral obliga ton in event of injury
to an innocent victim.
State Not Excited.
On the whole, Massachusetts is not
nearly so excited about its compul
sorry automobile liability insurance
law as are opponents of such d
statute in other parts Of the country
The Bay State, save for a few who
foresee damage to their special inter
ests, is inclined to look upon the law
as one of the most progressive steps
ever taken in motoring legislatio
and let it go at that without any
furore and flaming oratory.
This attitude, SO distinctly in con
trast to the picture of the situation
in Massachusetts that foes of com
pulsory liability insurance paint, was
clearly evident to the representative
Of The Star wherever he went in the
Bay State in quest of information
concerning the merits or dement's o1
the law.
TO be sure. there are those In Mas
sachusetts who condemn the statute
However. when their position is full,
stated, one cannot escape the conclu
sion that theirs is dWarfed, selfish
narrow view of the situat ton, not .
wholesome recognition OF the end.
that the law was expected t0 serve
the majority.
Interviews with butchers, bakers
truck drivers bankers. educators, mo
torists who drove cars from the lara
est to the smallest. officials, insur
ance men. new and used car dealers
and others established for The Star
representa- tive two main points:
First, that the Bay State is salts
fed that the law is serving the gen
eral welfare. and.
Second, that the State as a whoi