Until several years ago no victim of an automobile accident, in any state, could collect compensation from automobile liability insurance for death, bodily injury or property damage unless he could prove that the accident was caused by an insured driver's negligence. The same situation prevailas in many states today.
This necessity of proving that a driver was at fault creates an avalanche of litigation which swamps the nation's courts, costs billions of dollars in legal fees and helps raise the cost of auto insurance to new heights every year. It also frequently causes injustice to victims of accidents in which it is difficult to prove negligence, in which both drivers were partially negligent or in which it is impossible to determine who was at fault, as in chain collisions that involve dozens of cars. In addition the system tends to delay compensation causing hardship to victims because the insurance companies have the right as well as an obligation to their shareholders to resist insurance pay outs or defer it in the hope of a cheaper settlement.
This necessity of proving that a driver was at fault creates an avalanche of litigation which swamps the nation's courts, costs billions of dollars in legal fees and helps raise the cost of auto insurance to new heights every year. It also frequently causes injustice to victims of accidents in which it is difficult to prove negligence, in which both drivers were partially negligent or in which it is impossible to determine who was at fault, as in chain collisions that involve dozens of cars. In addition the system tends to delay compensation causing hardship to victims because the insurance companies have the right as well as an obligation to their shareholders to resist insurance pay outs or defer it in the hope of a cheaper settlement.
