About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

50 Colum. L. Rev. 300 (1950)
Recent Developments in Automobile Accident Compensation

handle is hein.journals/clr50 and id is 358 raw text is: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ,IN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT COMPENSATION FRANK, P. GRAD INTRODUCTION BY JOSEPH P. CHAMBERLAIN Introduction: In 1932 the Columbia Committee to Study Compensation for Automobile Accidents made a Report concluding in favor of a sys- tem of compensation for automobile accidents modeled on the work- men's compensation laws. The Report was based on a careful fac- tual study of accidents in ten widely scattered areas in the United States, both in large cities and in smaller cities and rural commu- nities. -The study showed that there was little chance of recovery from any but insured motorists and brought ,out the hardships, to the injured person and his dependents resulting both from his not collecting damages and from the delays and costs of recovery. It indicated the burden cast on public and private relief by injuries for which no damages were paid. The study covered the various plans then existing to improve the situation, through financial responsi- bility laws and through the then recent Massachusetts Compulsory Insurance Law, and included a statistical study of the effects of the Massachusetts law and of the various financial responsibility laws then in effect. In the Report was included a study of the law of torts as applicable to automobile accidents as well as a study of the costs, both to the parties and to the public, of court proceedings. A carefully drafted compensation plan was submitted, with a per- suasive memorandum by Professor Noel T. Dowling supporting its constitutionality. This-Report, combining the legal and the factual elements in automobile accidents, aroused wide attention and was much dis- cussed pro and con. Its factual conclusions' have not been seriously questioned, but the remedy has not been accepted as yet in any state of the Union. It: has, however, had an effect in stimulating discus- sion and, I believe, greater legislative attention to improving finan- cial responsibility laws as an answer to the challenge raised by the Report. Mr. Grad's study tests the conclusions of the Report in the light of developments since it was published. He has also taken into consideration the developments in the law of torts to see how far that law is becoming a more satisfactory instrument for meeting the social problem of automobilp injuries. His article should stimulate new thinking on an urgent problem. I. TEE PROBLEm In 1948, 8,200,000 automobile accidents were reported in the United States. Fatalities growing out of these numbered 32,000,1 and the number * This Article was written in connection with a legislative study undertaken by the Legislative Drafting Research Fund of Columbia Law School. Completed October 1, 1949. 1. NATioIAL SAirmy Couxcm, AcCJENT FAcTs 40 (1949).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most