Implementing Proposition 103

Your and the insurance industry’s continued calls for no-fault auto insurance show a remarkable contempt for the democratic process in California (editorial, “Getting Prop. 103 on the Road,” Dec. 10).

Last year almost 75% of the voters of California saw through the insurers’ $70-million scam and voted to reject a no-fault plan that was persistently sold as a New York-style system.

No-fault does not decrease costs. It calls for the compensation of the person at fault as well as his victim. And of the 10 states in the union with the highest insurance rates, five of them, including New York, are no-fault.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown’s “fast track” arbitration plan and insurance reform bill held out the best hope to lower costs associated with auto accident litigation. Assemblyman Richard Polanco’s (D-Los Angeles) proposed bill to make it a felony to solicit business for attorneys at the scene of the accident should have been approved as well. Also, we need to take a look at what the lawyers for both sides charge, as well as what treating doctors and auto-repair shops charge. Voluntary guidelines, at the very least, need to be established.

Our current system for compensating accident victims can be reformed without destroying their rights. No-fault is anti-victim and anti-consumer. We need a system that holds people responsible for their carelessness, not one that protects and subsidizes insurance companies.

TOM COTREL

Burbank