By: Richard Turbin

When a bill establishing a "pure" no-fault insurance system passed in the Senate on Feb. 2, Hawaii’s senators were not considering the welfare of a growing number of Hawaii’s citizens made homeless by Hawaii’s dysfunctional no-fault auto insurance system.

If our senators toured Honolulu’s waterfront they might find David C., homeless for more that two years, ever since a negligent driver knocked him senseless as he crossed a downtown Honolulu street.

David has been unable to work since that accident but the so-called "safety-net" known as no-fault automobile insurance has not helped him at all. Because David suffered a serious injury while fighting for his country in Vietnam, the negligent driver’s insurance company claims that most of his disability stems from the ancient Vietnam War wound and not from his recent auto/pedestrian accident.

David has appealed the insurance company's refusal to pay to Hawaii’s no-fault insurance commissioner, but that office, which is backlogged with hundreds of cases, might take years to decide whether David is indeed entitled to no-fault benefits. In the meantime, David remains homeless.

Bobby S. is a young part-Hawaiian male who has lived in his car for the last six months. Bobby lot his home and his job as a laborer after a serious auto accident. Again, his no-fault insurance carrier refused to pay no-fault insurance benefits, forcing Bobby out of his home.

These are not isolated incidents. Each year there are hundreds of instances where no-fault insurance carriers pay insurance benefits very late or not at all. It matters not at all that every Hawaii motorist must pay their no-fault insurance premiums insurance policies are canceled and they become law-breakers every time they drive.

But if the insurance industry gets its way and the Senate's "pure" no-fault bill is enacted into law, a very bad situation will become much, much worse. Under that law every Hawaii driver will have to pay for an expensive no-fault insurance premium, but the insurance company will have the sole right to decide whether to pay benefits to the accident victim because accident victims will be unable to hire lawyers.

In addition, Hawaii history and the history of every state where it has been tried tells us unequivocally that your rates will get higher. This is because the way no-fault works, good drivers have to pay for all the accidents caused by bad drivers. The insurance companies will collect higher premiums from you, the vigilant good driver, and pay out less in claims and take more of your money to their banks.

If from time to time an accident victim is actually paid some benefits under the "pure" no-fault system, it will not be much. He will be paid for only very limited medical care (no more than $10,000) approved by the insurance company; and absolutely no compensation for his lifelong loss of ability to walk on the beach or hug his child. Further, the bad driver who caused the accident will suffer absolutely no ill consequence for his reckless action.

Does this "pure" no-fault system smell familiar? Absolutely– it is modeled after our failed, absurdly expensive and bureaucratic top-heavy worker's compensation system. Who will pay for all the government bureaucrats, secretaries, clerks, and hearing officers who will be added to the Insurance Commissioner’s Office to hear no-fault disputes? We will!

Who will pay more in taxes to pay for yet another large government bureaucracy? We will!

It is incredible that at a time on our state's history when a majority of our citizens are fed up with the government over regulation, that many of our legislators actually want to burden us with a new and expensive bureaucracy that will over regulate our auto accident system.

Hawaii's citizens must tell their legislators to "just say no" to the insurance industry lobby. The high cost of auto insurance premiums in Hawaii is caused by an unnecessary, expensive, and unwieldily no-fault insurance system. It must be dismantled, not expanded. It hasn't worked in the past and it will work even less well if it is turned into a "pure" no-fault system.

The "victim's right to seek redress in the courts," a democratic tradition laboriously established by statesmen, judges, lawyers and the common laborer through jury service, should not be lost by false promises of lower auto premiums been reduced. In every state where no-fault has been expanded, auto insurance premiums have become more expensive.

Hawaii's no-fault system hurts not only David C. and Bobby S., but it victimizes all of us and Hawaii’s economy also. A "pure" no-fault auto insurance system is the worst possible solution. Not only will it create a new and expensive government bureaucracy that will be with us forever, paid for by our tax dollars, but it will ultimately raise our auto insurance premiums even more.

Worst of all, it makes the average Hawaii motorist totally defenseless against the power of the insurance industry. We must tell our legislators to vote against "pure" no-fault before it is to late.