Evening star., 1927-11-21
AUTO INSURANCE
MERITS UPHELD
Day State Commission. Once
Skeptical, Now Yields to
None in Enthusiasm.
IN WILLIAM ILLMiN.
Automobile Editor, The Star


ance man himself. thoroughly ac
Cuainted with every ramificatlon ol
this amazingly complicated business
Wesley B. Monk. MASSACHUSETTS, com
missioner of insurance and among
those who viewed the making of com
pulsorv automobile liability insurance
legislation rather scientifically, today
Yields first place to no man IN ms
enthusiasm for the statute. Instead
of having anything to fear from the
enactment of such n law. insurance
companies along with society in gen
eral have everything to gain from
il. Mr.. Monk now declares without
qualification.
Like Frank A. Goodwin. registrar
of motor vehicles. with whom he is
Jointly charged With administering
the compulsory liability insurance
law. Mr.. Monk is ready to concede
that it is not yet perfect in every
detail But, he says. when its def
ciencies are measured in the scale
with its advantages. there is no QueS-
tioning it's tremendous merit in Solv-
ing the seemingly unsolvable problem
Of how to compensate the innocent
victim of traffic accidents.
Free From Illusions.
The Stars representative, who came
to Massachusetts, to get tirst-hand
Data on the effectiveness of the law
and the reaction to it of various vitality
affected groups. found Mr.. Monk
essentially free from illusions on the
subject. The Bay State insurance
- It-f 1ad hN ~
fanatical fervor that leads him to
give a one sided picture of conditions.
Rates-how they were established,
their equity in the light of almost a
wears experience, the insurance COM
panies' attitude. necessary changes or
notifications of the law. the need for
poSSible eXtenSion-in short, every
ASPECT of Massachusetts unique posi-
ton. found Mr. Monk emphatically
willing to lay his cards faceup on
the table.
Mr.. Monk is especially frank in his
opinion that it will be next April
before statistical proof of the law $
full merit will be available: but, when
next April arrives. he has no doubt
that this proof will be absolutely con-
vincing to the most skeptical.
4 morning with the insurance COM
missioner revealed most convInclngiy
that pioneering in the field of COM
pulsory insurance Is no small task.
The most difficult feature of the whole
problem was that of rate-fiXing and.
with engaging frankness. Mr.. Monk
declares that whereas rates usually
are based upon experience. there was
no experience in this field, so a lot
cf Judgment had TO be used" in lieu
of exact knowledge.
Two groups were affected, the In
sured and the insurer. 1t was neceS-
sarv to establish premium levels that
were fair and reasonable in the case
of the former and adequate for the
latter. The insurance companies could
not he allowed such high rates as to
be a burden upon the Bay state
motorists. nor should rates be so low
that losses would drive the companies
out of business.
Dilemma Is Ended.
That out of this dilemma were pro-
duced passenger car rates that av-
erage Is per cent lower than pre-
viously existed-25 per cent lower in
Boston itself-is striking testimony
that the board of insurance experts
which computed the premium table
considered the motorists interest thor
oughly. Previous to the enactment OF
the law, less than 80 per cent of
Massachusetts car owners carried
public liability insurance. If these
were considered to represent the better
type of car owner and cltiZen--and
they invariably are so considered-it
seems surprising that for the aver
age" driver a lower rate should have
been established.
1t was, however, and the fact served
to wipe out the last vestige of the
thought that the insurance companies
were the primary beneficiaries of the
compulsory liability insurance law, a
thought that persisted in some quar-
ters even in the face of the compan nies
vigorous opposition to enactment Of
the statute.
II Massachusetts lacked experience
upon which to base the original rates,
il certainly will he in no such predica
ment when it's first year of the law
has ended and the figures compiled,
for a remarkably comprehensive and
simple statistical plan has been evolv-
ed whereby every item of experience
is being catalogued. This statistical
plan, of which Mr.. Monk is no m, re
proud than the insurance comp" MES
themselves. is applicable to all COM
panies. Thus insurance experience
computed from it will have a degree
of uniformity heretofore impossible.
Mr.. Monk is counting a great deal
uD0n the experience thus tabulated.
When the books of the s. insurance
companies are balanced. the records
of 500, 900 motorists measured against
perhaps 10000 mishaps of varying de-
gree Of seriousness. the insurance
commissioner of Massachusetts be-
lieves that the first concrete step in
determining traffic accident causation
will have been taken in the United
States.
Uniform Cards Used.
In substantiation of this position
l.. L..