Evening star., 1927-11-20

Last wear November was one of the
worst months of the year in the mat
ter of fatal accidents. with 93 deaths.
This year. it marks the beginning OF
the real effectiveness Of the law. Mr..
Goodwin declares. And. no one could
he more sanguine that this will show
up desivelv when the totals for the
wear are taken The States statistical
year ends on November so and if the
accident level for the rest Of the month
continues as at present. 1927 will show
reduction of moro than 25 fatalities
over the previous year.
CareIessness Not Rampant.
These figures, taken straight from
the records of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. do not indicate care
lessness rampant among motor car
owners. In one way. they are excel
lcntly comparable with those of 1896.
because car registrations are running
almost even with those of last year.
They deal. however only with fatal
tiles, not with the thousands of per-
sonal injuries of varying degree of
seriousness.
Figures on the latter type of mis-
haps. when they finally are tabulated
for the year, probably will show an
increase. At least. the registrar n
ticipates that they will Will this not
show that the average motorist is
more careless? 1t was not within this
writer's ability to find any one III
Massachusetts who thinks such to be
the case.
Regardless of how large the increase.
there is an explanation that is
irrefutahle in its deadly logic. That
is that no accident however minor, is
going to escape being reported. There
are two reasons for this. First, the
victim has something to gain in the
way of a monetary settlement from
the insurance company. Heretofore,
there was no way for him to collect
from tremendously large percentage
of drivers Now. he can. And, he
does,
The motorist also will report the
accident for he knows that a report
of the incident will reach the
registrar Of motor vehicles through
his victim and through the insurance
company as well as through the
States investigator or the local Police
Department. Failure to report an
accident is sufficient cause for oper-
stor's permit suspension or revoca
tion. The motorist takes no chance
of losing his permit in this fashion.
None Go Unreportetl.
The cumulative result is that no
accident, regardless of its unlm-
portance, is going unreported, whereas
thousands never found their way 10
the official records in the past.
Without this background. the out
slider looking at compulsory insurance
might readily agree with the argu-
ment of opponents of the law that 1t
is prolific cause of accidents when.
finally the official statistics. for the
year are available. But no one In
tTa1a
illusion, least of all, perhaps, VIII the
registrar of motor vehicles.
But the point not to be lost in the
whole view of the subject is that
safety is an effect of the law and not
a purpose, Mr.. Goodwin declares. A
ma iority of the motorists, he is GER
tain, agree that the principle of
financial responsibility is sound, but.
even so, it was not for the motorlst
that the law was passed.
The law was enacted in the interest
of the 3 200 900 residents of the State
who are not registered as motor car
owners Mr.. Goodwin declares. and, he
saws. regardless of how the individual
motorist may feel on the subject,
these 100000 certainly favor it be
cause of it's protective features.
How there is provided method OF
discfplining the undesirable among
the motor car owners and operators
of Massachusetts is one Of the most
interesting phases of the compulsory
automobile liability insurance law.
In this feature of the statute are the
elements of safety that constantly
are growing stronger
Drivers Records Kept.
A daily record of traffic violations
is kept in the Office of the registrar
of motor vehicles. At the close OF
each working day a clerical force Is
put to work making transcript of
this data for the Automobile Rating
and Accident Prevention Bureau, the
clearing house set up for this pur-
pose by the insurance companies oper-
ating in Massachusetts. Keeping
daily tab on drivers in this fashion
the compa nies are able quickly to de
ternne what character of risk the
individual is as based on his driving
record
If his record is such that he is
shown 10 be habitually careless. that
he makes a practice of drinking to
excess, or that re drives reckiessly
in any one of a dozen ways. then he
il established Immediately and EN-.
phatcallY as a bad risk. This in
formation is available to all insur3 nee
companies that are members of The
burea'-
They thus refuse To accent the
driver Of this character as polIty Y
holder. If he cannot get insurance
for his car he cannot get tags unless
he is willing to post a bond or cash
guarantee Of his responsibility. Thus
he is barred from the highways of the
State.
This would seem To have trans
fcrred the right of licensing driver
from the State To private corpora
tions-a charge frequently heard. But
the insurance company does not have
the last word in this matter. If a
motorst is denied a policy he may
appeal TO n board composed of Mr.
Goodwin, Wesley r. Monk. State in
surance commissioner, and a rerc
sentative of the State attorney gen
erals office.
May Force Policy Issuance.
It is this board that eventually dc
+ermines the individual case. If i
thinks the insurance company i
wrong, il directs il to write policy
# however, it agrees that the man
record is bad, il SuStainS the insul
ance company. Each case is take
strictly on its merits. The effective
moss of the system is indicated by tn
- fact that. although an appea! fror
the boards ruling may be taken {
the court. not one case ever has bee
appealed
discipline that eXcels anything eve
Developed, MIR. Goodwin declares
r.odar M nj her certainly f1a