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Show Emery County Green River forum Insurance bill To the editor: The consuming public has little idea how poorly it is served by our current automobile casualty insurance program, nor appreciate how truly expensive it is. Put in a commonly understood perspective, insurance for the average passenger automobile costs approximately $1 for each gallon of fuel consumed by every auto driven every day on Utahs streets and highways. The average auto policy in force in Utah cost $583 per year. Less than 50 percent of the premium paid is spent for the payments of benefits. Because auto insurance is so expensive, more and more auto owners cannot afford insurance on any basis. Between 35 percent and 40 percent of Utahs drivers simply dont carry insurance at all because it is just too expensive. Many drivers cannot pay the premiums or pay them late. A payment delivered to the insurance company one day late causes the auto policy to be void, resulting in an endless d of canceland lations, corrective paper work. The addition of more legislation merry-go-roun- will not remediate this problem. Even with insurance in force, many terrible and tragic injuries occur in which the injured party has no recourse because automobile insurance payments are based on fault. Insurance policies are ' sold primarily to protect the party at fault, and are not intended to compensate injured parties for their losses. Because of the unpredictable, arbitrary, costly and capricious settlement procedures, uncovered hospital and medical services often must be paid by the state (under social nservice programs) or by increased medical insurance premiums. An army of insurance underwriters; agents; adjusters and attorneys; 60 percent of the time, energy and resources of the judicial system; as well as 40 percent of the time, energy and resources of the Highway Patrol Department is dedicated to making the system work, and it doesnt work very well. If we were to create a sys- tem designed to protect people who are injured in automobile accidents instead of a system intended to protect only those who are at fault, a far more cost efficient and equitable ' system could be devised. I do Senate to that in have tried Bill 123. The bill was introduced in the 1989 session of the Legislature. There were powerful vested interests in opposition, and the bill was not even assigned to a committee for discussion. The focus of the bill is to guarantee that no one whose person or property is injured by an automobile accident will be denied compensation. insurance costs. 2. Funds collected at the pump would purchase reinsurance coverage and administrative services from private sector companies. The program would not be administered by an agency of government. 3. No longer will there be any uninsured motorists on Utahs roads. This factor alone should reduce the insurance and social costs created by uninsured motorists because 0 percent more money would be paid into the insurance pool. The uncovered injury resulting in increases in medical insurance will be eliminated. 4. Moving violations statutes would be given real teeth. Persons convicted of a moving violation would be required to pay $250 into the indemnity fund, in addition to the normal fines levied under the code. Persons convicted of reckless driving or under the influence of alcohol would be required to pay $500 into the fund for a first offense. A second offense would result in a payment of a $1,000 fine. The net result of this strategy is that those who violate the driving statutes will pay a 35-4- substantial penalty, equivalent to a premium increase , for poor driving habits. 5. Mysterious underwriting costs will be eliminated. The same risk assessment will apply to all autos without exception. Lighter, more efficient vehicles will result in lower premium costs to the driver, while parked cars will pay no premiums at all. 6. Insurance coverage is Instead of 1,443,659 separate contracts of auto insurance being written every year, every auto on Utahs 9. roads will be covered by one contract. The costs associated with home office overhead (except for the payment of claims), needless paper work, underwriting, adjusting and legal fees for liability will be altogether eliminated. 10. The burden imposed on the judicial system by disputed claims, adjudication of fault and automobile related litigation will be reduced by 0 percent. 1 1 . The need to allocate 50-6- resources to investigate every traffic accident will be eliminated, since the question of fault will no longer be critical to payment of benefits. Savings to the taxpayer resulting from a 50 percent reduction in investigative resources at the local, county and state level will create a substantial savings of public resources. defendants 12. (ie., Utah Power and Light, Mountain Fuel Supply, U.S. West, the state of Utah, counties and political subdivisions) which carry risk management insurance (which is horribly expensive) would be saved the expense of not only the insurance, but the cost for over- coverage for resident vehicles for a period of 21 days on a continuous basis. 14. Out of state drivers will be covered while driving on Utahs roads, except that their own carriers would provide primary coverage. The bill will be d for consideration again in the 1990 session of the state Legislature. I am confident that eventually this measure will be passed into law. The only real question is how long the public will tolerate the needless expenditure of more than $400,000,000 each year unil the law is passed. The amount is equivalent to more than 25 percent of the state funds allocated to the state budget every year. The passage of this measure would provide teachers and the educational system with the $150,000,000 left over, without the elimination of a single item in the governors budget. Deep-pock- 0. paid according to a preauthorized schedule of benefits without regard to fault. 3. Lawsuits over liability and damages would be prohibited. The law will work according to the following strategy: 1. All insurance premiums will be paid at the gas pump. Those who drive most will pay most, and those who can least afford to drive would pay the least for coverage. The premiums for other coverages would cease, since no other coverage would be needed, resulting in a net savings to the driver of 70 percent in Thurs., Fri. tute provides universal property damage coverages, no collision coverage is necessary. 8. Lawsuits over liability and amount of damages would be prohibited by law. traffic stop nets marijuana A routine traffic stop led to the arrest of a Virginia man and the confiscation of over 100 pounds of marijuana last week on 0. Last Thursday, Nov. 30, deputy Tracy Cartwright was near mileppatrolling on B only thru Dec. & E. Main in Castle Dale 410 381-564- ' & 0 Look Extra Special For The Holidays Sat., Dec. buyoheget 14-1- only! 6 pattems$1 1FREE 00 Greeting Cards Zippers resiThe man, a dent of Alexandria, Va., was taken to the Emery County Detention Center, where he is awaiting arraignment on the drug charges. 12 Price Trim, Lace R1 ckRack 106 N. Main Huntington 687-258- 3 1-- 70 :f Sheriff Lamar Guymon, the deputy found a small quantity of marijuana on the driver of the vehicle and arrested him on possession charges. During an impound inventory at the site of the arrest, the deputy found 104 pounds of marijuana in bags and luggage in the truck. The sheriff said most of the marijuana was in bales. According to ;ir ' n ms wm' Baldwin Great American Keyboard Sale. TTBiks a mff&k. piradisail people, Don't Pay MORE For Less!! E. you're looking for good basic value in a computer made by a good solid company, its a great choice. No bells and whistles here you'll never use. Just power and features you will. Like 640K of RAM. A choice of 5.25" or 3.5 disk drives with an optional 30MB hard drive. A multi-vide- o adapter Fiv expansion slots. And a very useful integrated software package that has all the programs you may ever need to take care of business. The Super- - 16TE does have one feature, however that youll probably never use. An warranty. Be practical. Come in and see If overflowing with Baldwin keyboards... with excepsale prices. Famous Baldwin grands. Hamilton studio pianos. Digital pianos with the sound of the Baldwin concert grand. MCX Digital Keyboard Orchestras. Acrosonics. Portable keyboards. Save now on the keyboard of your choice...from Americas first choice...Baldwin. is Best-selli- tionally low ng Teacher-recommend- ed DOWN DELIVERS 18-mo- Any BALDWIN Piano, Organ or Grandfather Clock Hyundai's Super-16T- E today. MSDOS 3.3 640K Memory Multivideo Card RGB Color Monitor 30 MB Hard Drive 18- - Month Warranty $1 U only Retail '1795 Ahyundai Practical Compatibles. lomG&aaaQ fflQoS EomipiiQsffs Sale Ends Sal Dec. 9 MUSIC mTkm. M four Hyundais 10 MHz the Super-16T- Our store !1 UAH fw.n ost 123 in the eastbound lane when he pulled a 1981 GMC Jimmy over for excessive speed. per gallon. Current insurance , which would be obviated under the bill, would cost approximately $1 per gallon, if paid at the pump. 2. All property damage, perprehensive 30 FINAL CLOSEOUT 1-- 70 paid along with gasoline purchases at the pump, at a rate of approximately 30 cents com- n ALL PERMS automatic and cannot be terminated. 7. Every case of personal injury or property damage involving an automobile will without exception be compensated. A. All medical costs for all injuries suffered by anyone in the' state of Utah, together with all future medical costs related to the accident, will be paid for life without regard to fault. B. Personal injury compensation will be paid in addition to medical expenses, based on the seriousness of the injury according to a predefined benefit formula (similar in most respects to the workmans compensation formulas), based on the nature and extent of the injuries, disability and employment status. C. All property damage, comprehensive, fire and theft losses, will be paid with a $250 deductible. Because the sta- All insurance would be claims would be U.S. Pollution Control have submitted applications to build incinerators in Tooele County. ern industries. But Tom Chandler, a Delta dentist who opposed Rollins location in Millard County, offered some advice to residents of Emery County: Get organized and fight as hard as et 1) incinerator in Utah. Two other companies, Aptus and explained. Rollins is anxious to locate in the intermountain region to accommodate west- el 364-130- (Continued from Page 11 E. Main 1 East Main, Price- - Price 637-013- 4 C 1988 Hyundai Electronics America t expected to consider a bill during the next session which would prohibit building more than one hazardous waste incinerators, Finlinson . U'89 if you dont want it, If you want it, just sit there because youll get it. The state Legislature is The company has three major waste incinerators, one located at Logan Township, N.J. on the Delaware River; another at Baton Rouge, La. on the Mississipi River; and one at Deer Park, Texas on the Houston shipping channel. The incinerators are located on major shipping lanes to provide transportation for .major industries. As EPA regulations have forced industries to stop dumping wastes, there is becoming a need for more pre-file- , you can he said. aquifer. The bill attacks many pork-barrinstitutions and sacred cows. The forces being marshalled by opponents in support of the perpetuation of the current wholly senseless insurance approach are substantial. The only way this bill can be enacted is for each citizen to become informed about its provisions and get involved head, salaries and related in the legislative process. If resources to support such you would like to help in other management. The savings ways, please feel free to write resulting from this reduction or call Sen. Lorin N. Pace, 350 in cost would be passed back South 400 East, Suite 101, through to rate and taxpayers Salt Lake City, Utah 84111, through reduced billings. Sincerely, 13. The bill will provide out- Lorin N. Pace are: sonal injuries and tor in Iron County in 1987, but met almost unanimous opposition. Last month Rollins was turned away from Lynndyl, Millard County because it was too close to the Sevier River and a valuable groundwater of-sta- te Three essential concepts forming the heart of this bill 1. Progress Tuesday, December XT is a trademark ol IBM. 637-929- 2 |