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Author Kinzler, Peter, author.

Title Highway robbery : the two-decade battle to reform America's automobile insurance system / Peter Kinzler.

Publication Info. Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2021]
©2021

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Location Call No. OPAC Message Status
 Axe 3rd Floor Stacks  368.092 K627h 2021    ---  Available
Description xviii, 286 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
text txt rdacontent
unmediated n rdamedia
volume nc rdacarrier
Series Studies in government and public policy
Studies in government and public policy.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-273) and index.
Contents Introduction -- Fifty ways to lose your recovery : so you think your auto insurance will protect you -- "Las Vegas has better odds than that" : studies detail the shortcomings of the fault system, and support builds for no-fault auto insurance -- Early congressional action : a consumer icon goes missing in action (1968-1974) -- How to get a Committee Counsel position on Capitol Hill -- "I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill" : a primer on how to move legislation in the 1970s -- "Van Deerlin's a really nice guy, but that Kinzler's a son of a bitch" : early House hearings and chairman-staff relationships (1975) -- The House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Reports a no-fault bill, only to see the Senate bill falter (1975-1976) -- New key players in the ninety-fifth Congress : Rep. Bob Eckhardt, Pres. Jimmy Carter, and Sen. Howard Cannon tackle no-fault (1977) -- Eckhardt, Carter, and Cannon support no-fault, only to be betrayed by Sen. John Durkin (June 1977-June 1978) -- One last chance : Eckhardt rejects late compromise and goes to full committee markup (July 25, 1978-August 1, 1978) -- Decompression, depression, introspection, and a failed effort to secure support for a choice no-fault bill (Fall 1978) -- Experience with other liability reform issues leads to a surprise return to no-fault (1981-1996) -- Two decades of changes in state auto insurance laws fail to fix the major problems -- No-fault rises like a phoenix from the ashes, reincarnated as auto choice, with a focus on lower premiums and choice (1992-2004) -- Let's all change partners and dance again : political support for auto choice flip flops (1996-1998) -- The rubber hits the road : congressional consideration of auto choice (1996-2004) -- Is there some education in the second kick of a mule? -- Afterword : does no-fault reform have another turn on the federal agenda?
Summary "Ever since shortly after the first cars appeared on American roads, all states have operated under the "fault and liability insurance system," where a driver's degree of negligence, if any, determined whether they were entitled to receive compensation. Resolving disputes over fault was a slow process that, in many cases, left injured people without recoveries while lawyers representing the injured person and the insurance company haggled over the amount of recompense. It was a system that most commentators found did not serve injured people nearly as well as it served the lawyers and insurers. The tort system fails to compensate a large percentage of injured people, overcompensates those who suffer minor injuries and undercompensates those with serious injuries, and often takes years to resolve serious injury claims. Highway Robbery is a first-hand account of the battle to create a better, no-fault system against the opposition of the special interests determined to protect their economic stake in the existing insurance system. Peter Kinzler tells the story of his involvement in two failed federal efforts, twenty years apart, to enact no-fault automobile insurance legislation. The first congressional fight in the 1970s, in which he was the lead House staffer, was between the initial supporters of the no-fault reform-primarily consumer groups and unions-and the opponents, the vested interests of lawyers and insurers. The second fight was between primarily consumer activists and conservative organizations and the same special interests, during which time Kinzler was the president of the Coalition for Auto-Insurance Reform (CAR) a private, nonprofit coalition organized solely to help secure passage of a federal bill in the 1990s and 2000s. Both efforts illustrate the challenge of passing significant federal legislation, especially in our polarized, hyper-partisan age"-- Provided by publisher.
Subject Automobile insurance -- Law and legislation -- United States.
Automobile insurance -- Government policy -- United States.
Law reform -- United States.
Automobile insurance -- Government policy. (OCoLC)fst01725391
Automobile insurance -- Law and legislation. (OCoLC)fst01715773
Law reform. (OCoLC)fst00994081
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
ISBN 9780700632299 (cloth)
0700632298 (cloth)
9780700632305 (epub)
0700632301 (epub)

 
    
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