No-Fault Insurance

* Your April 13 editorial, “Another Nod Toward No-Fault,” continues the notion propagated by the insurance industry that no-fault will reduce auto insurance premiums. The facts tell another story.

According to the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners, states with no-fault laws saw their automobile liability rates increase an average of 30.9% between 1989 and 1992. That is an average increase of more than 10% per year. States without no-fault saw rates go up an average of just over 7% per year. Six no-fault states have the fastest-growing liability premiums in the country. On the other hand, California’s auto liability premiums have declined .02% since 1989.

Would the insurance industry have invested $88 million trying to pass a no-fault initiative in 1988 if it weren’t expecting a sizable return on that investment? That 1988 initiative was defeated because the voters of California understood the issues and made the right choice. No-fault means responsible drivers pick up the tab for bad drivers, and that leads to higher, not lower, rates. In addition--as the recent RAND study and your own editorial point out--”no-fault states typically do not compensate victims for legitimate injuries such as sprains.” Maybe this is why no state has enacted a no-fault law since 1980.

CHARLES J. MAZURSKY, President

Consumer Attorneys Assn. of Los Angeles