Statewide Auto Insurance Plan

I am writing to you and state officials to suggest a plan that would solve the problem of the uninsured motorist. Briefly, this would be a blanket statewide plan in which liability insurance coverage would be paid for by motorists each time they bought gas by a tax per gallon.

A study could be made to determine the amount needed per gallon to cover such insurance costs. All other regular car insurance such as fire, theft, etc., would be the car owners’ responsibility--all violations of driving laws would be handled as they are now--suspended driving license, jail terms, etc. Large trucks, buses, heavy equipment and all others using diesel fuel could be handled some other way or the same as now.

If it is true that only two out of three motorists are now insured (and it is getting worse all the time), it is not fair to the insured driver to be required to pay increased premiums to cover the uninsured drivers. This program would eliminate all area differentials that are so unfair. This plan would be fair because the person who drives a lot would pay more than the person who only drives to church on Sunday.

There should be no objection from the insurance industry, as our own auto insurance carrier has notified us that it no longer will offer auto liability coverage. The difficulties and ramifications of this program are many, but the millions of dollars involved and the fairness to everyone should greatly outweigh any problems.

California is a leader in innovations and could lead the nation in a program like this.

The problem of California motorists driving out of state could be handled by the issuance of a dated card, at the time of departure, that must be presented at the time of re-entry and an insurance charge be imposed (such as on a rental car), the daily amount to be determined by a study.

Almost everyone we know has had the sad experience of suffering a loss because of an uninsured motorist.

DON HARGENS

HELEN HARGENS

Pasadena