In recent years, choice no-fault has emerged as a popular but
controversial proposal for addressing the problem of high automobile
insurance rates. Choice plans offer consumers the option of a lower-cost
insurance policy with restrictions on filing lawsuits or a higher-cost
policy with full tort rights. Some American states have implemented
choice programs, and major federal choice legislation is now pending in
the United States Congress.
Choice no-fault has caught the attention of policy makers, the insurance
industry, and academics. Until now, however, no single book has pulled
together the available research on the topic. The Economics and
Politics of Choice No-Fault Insurance fills that gap. Edited by
scholars from different disciplines, each of whom has written
extensively on automobile insurance issues, the book includes some of
the best work in the area. Former Massachusetts Governor and
presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis wrote the foreword.
Contributors include University of Virginia Law Professor Jeffrey
O'Connell, widely considered the `father of no-fault, ' as well as
authors of the influential RAND study of the potential effects of choice
no-fault on insurance rates. The book chapters, most of which were
written especially for this volume, cover topics ranging from the impact
of choice no-fault on accidents and driving behavior, to the effects of
choice on medical care usage, to alternative approaches for resolving
accidents involving both `no-fault' and `tort' electors, to the
political feasibility of choice legislative proposals. Emphasis on the
potential advantages of choice no-fault is balanced by consideration of
possible ill effects
