Pros and Cons on California’s Mandatory Auto Insurance Law
Judith Bell’s “Two Ways to Reform Auto Insurance” (Op-Ed Page, Nov. 2) is both informative and timely. Our lawmakers, who like to masquerade as “political leaders” have equivocated on this issue as well. It should not be long before another justifiable though ill-conceived initiative measure appears on our ballot to remedy the Legislature’s prolonged inaction upon an urgent matter.
No-fault insurance should be re-examined as Bell suggests. It seems a reasonable alternative in the case of the thousands of “fender-bender” type accidents. But we laypersons need to know more about its function; in the case of the drunk driver, for example, who kills or permanently disables.
A most intriguing idea recently came to my attention. It makes so much sense that it surely will be condemned to oblivion, especially so because it is related to education. Why not give young people some incentive to make maximum use of their educational opportunities by requiring the attainment of some basic achievement standards (probably to be measured by testing and by demonstrated daily performance as reflected on regular report cards) as a prerequisite for taking the driver’s test?
Another aspect of auto insurance needing attention is the relationship of premiums to traffic tickets. It is clear that “upscale” cars get more than their fair share of attention from law enforcement personnel. From 1976 to the present, I have owned three “upscale” and two rather ordinary cars. I was never ticketed while driving either of the ordinary cars although they have been driven about 50% of the time during this period. This phenomenon has been experienced by most of my friends and associates who are similarly situated. Is this justice?
Bell is right on target: “The time for Band-Aid solutions is long past.” Everyone I know who is trying to be a responsible, productive member of society is, among other things, sick and tired of the “uninsured motorists” impact on auto insurance premiums.
FRANK C. KIRBY
Redondo Beach
