Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-21
In the Motor World
BY q. ADAMS HOWARD.

cally carrying on. The State For
estry Department has jurisdiction
over roadSideS."
Addressing insurance commits
sioners from all parts Of the
United States and Canada some
time ago, r. Leighton Foster,
superintendent of insurance for
the province of Ontario, Canada,
strongly Endorsed the A. A. A..
safety responsibility law as a
means of controlling the reckless
driver. He declared that it is the
best plan yet offered"
At the same time the Canadian
commissioner scored the Massa-
chusetts compulsory plan, and
termed it undesirable, unwork-
able and inimical to the public
interest"
Mr.. Fosters address was one of
the high lights of the National
Convention of Insurance Commits
sioners, and he urged his COL
leagues not to be misled by the
circumstance that the enactment
of these laws is now being spon-
Sored by organized motordom and
that administration is vested in
motor vehicle commissioners.
Mr.. Foster declared that up I'M
til five years ago safety was the
objective of all motor vehicle leg
iSlation, but that it gradually
dawned upon the public mind
that accidents could not be en-
tirely prevented and that thou
sands could own motor vehicles
who were financially irresponsible.
Thus developed a demand" he
continued, which I conceive to
be general throughout the United
States and Canada today, that the
innocent victims of these acct
dents be protected, that laws be
formulated looking to the 'respon-
Sibility' in damages of all motor
lists as supplementary to the
broader subject of safety on the
highways"
The commissioner pictured the
chaos that followed in the wake
of compulsory insurance for all
motorists, as adopted in Massa-
chusettS, with every accident a
potential insurance claim, and
also cited the growing opposition
to this plan. He continued:
Leadership in such a matter
would naturally be expected from
the organized motoring public.
The rapidly dwindling minority
of the public, known as the pedes-
TRANS, is not and cannot be or
ganized. Three out of four adult
pedestrians today are motorists"
Approves State Laws.
Citing the principles of the
A. A. A. bill, and pointing out that
it gave the stamp Of approval to
legislation already in force in
many States and provinces re-
quiring all operators and chauf-
feurs to be licensed, Mr.. Foster
said:
"It embodied provisions for the
mandatory suspension of such
licenses OF all persons found
guilty of serious violations of the
motor vehicle laws and definitely
barring such persons from the
road until, in addition to what
ever penalties the laws provided
for these offenders, they have
submitted satisfactory proof OF
their financial responsibility. It
provided for the suspension of the
driving rights of all persons
against whom final judgments
arising out of motor vehicle acct
dents had been obtained and had
been allowed to remain unsatis-
fed, the suspension to remain in
effect until the judgment was sat
isf1ed and, in addition, until such
persons proved their financial re-
sponSibility touching future acct
dents. Finally, 1t contemplated
reciprocal arrangements between
States whereby there would be an
Interchange of suspension rul-
ings, thus making the disability
nationally reciprocal.
THE A. A. A. bill met with a
very favorable reception. 1t ap-
pealed to the man who was look
ing for a constructive step in the
direction of the solution of the
problem which would not bring
with it more ills than it cured OBJ
viously it was not freak legisla-
ton. All it's cardinal principles
other than the reciprocal feature
had already been experimental
with successfully in Connecticut
and other States, or generally dis
cussed for two or three years with
general approval. 1t was spon-
sored by the motoring public's
own organization. Best of all, it
only applied in a compulsory way
to motorists who, by reason of
their own individual unlawful
acts, brought themselves within
it. It's outstanding virtue was the
elimination of any features Of
universal or absolute compulsion