South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 1, July, 1978 Page: 6 of 13
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II
July 1978 — Annotations — Pago 5
i'vv "i-"
Editorial
Leave It To Them
By Philippe Symonovicz
If you've recently arrived from
another state and you're new to
Houston, you couldn't help but
notice them; they drive '62
Impalas, '64 Mustangs or even a
'57 Ford pickup. You know who
I mean ... the uninsured motorist
. . . that breed of lunatic who
merrily brushes by you with care-
free abandon, at intersections, on
freeways, in parking lots. He
stands there as blatant as the
knocks in his car. He has no
worries, for he knows that you are
on the street at your own risk.
Recently, TAISO (Texas Auto-
mobile Insurance Service Office)
published figures showing that
out of the 1,213,315 vehicles
registered in Harris County by
July 1977, only 836,717 carried
some type of insurance coverage,
leaving us to deal with a 31
percent uninsured motorist pop-
ulation. That's not really that
bad, we could be in Webb
County — there the uninsured
bandit accounts for 55 percent of
the motorists. Of course Webb
County is no Houston — no traffic
jams such as those encountered at
peak hours on the Southwest
Freeway or on the Loop, torment
the driver as they do here.
The answer is simple. There is
no formal legal requirement to
carry insurance in Texas. Oh
there are certain penalties, but
they are quite meager. The
minimum coverage required
"after the accident" is $10,000 to
cover all injuries in one accident,
and $5,000 to cover property
damage. Upon causing an acci-
dent, the uninsured motorist
must file a "Proof of Financial
Responsibility" with the Depart-
ment of Public Safety, buy only if
he has caused bodily harm in
excess of $250 to one person or in
Comment
excess of $500 if two or more
persons are injured or killed, or if
he has caused property damage in
excess of $250.
The DPS will then determine
whether the party filing the
"Proof of Financial Respons-
ibility" was at fault in the
accident. If they so find, they may
at their discretion impose such
harsh penalities as suspending
the violator's driving permit.
Considering that a great deal of
people in this state operate a
motor vehicle without a license,
one would have to believe that
such a punishment does not cause
undue suffering.
For those of you who have seen
an accident report, you would
have noticed that there is no
mention of insurance.
In all fairness to the DPS, the
real culprit is the Texas legisla-
ture. Put simply, the legislature
in this state has yet to come to the
realization that we are approach-
ing the ninth decade of the
twentieth century. Statistics are
totally ignored. The idea of
imposing mandatory insurance is
anathema to the ways of the
Texas government. It is far more
preferable for those using the
Texas highways to pay for the
mistakes committed by the irres-
ponsible motorist.
Texas motor vehicle accident
deaths in 1977 reached a record
high of 3,698. This is an increase
of 468 (14 percent) over the 3,230
deaths recorded in 1976 and six
more than the previous high in
1973. In Houston, 237 died and
17,963 were injured out of a total
of 75,665 accidents. Harris
County registered over 100,000
accidents in 1977. Since these
figures are put out by the Texas
Department of Public Safety, they
do not indicate what percentage
of those accidents involved our
friend, the uninsured motorist.
UWAT tto YOU MfeAJO, ' MU X FlU*IOCiAU.y
X T*t>MT Get Twese
otó LOÓkS ALOIOE Í!
Since over 30 percent of the
motorists in Harris County are
uninsured, there is a probability
that one out- of every three
accidents will involve an un-
insured motorist. The penality:
up goes your insurance rates.
Just how well should we be
insured? The minimum package
offered by the State Board of
Insurance (SBI) is $10,000/
$20,000/S5,000, but all the bank
requires when you buy a car, is
collision (which only covers prop-
erty damage to the automobile).
The SBI limitations are fine, but
since 31 percent of the drivers
need not account for their actions
this coverage is quite insufficient.
We must now take coverage as
well as pay higher rates. And God
forbid we should have a close
incounter with an uninsured
brother, because the insurance
company will raise our rates or
revoke our policy. Who can blame
them. Due to the reticence of the
legislature, the insurance com-
pamies are faced with a higher
risk. We are not just taking out a
policy for ourselves.
Security Costs Seem Minimal
By Leonora C. Friend
Staff Writer
I know it seems that we are
living more and more in a security
controlled society which some-
times causes us anxiety, but it's
often necessary for our safety and
that of our families. The question
of the necessity of security has
arrived at South Texas College of
Law. It is an often repeated joke
among classmates and instruc-
tors, especially in the late evening
classes, that, you'd better pass up
that extra beer at the White
Horse and afford parking close to
the school during the late evening
hours. The humor of the situation
leaves you, however, when you
hear reports such as the recent
one, where a man lost his life at a
hotel located near the school. A
South Texas student was washing
her car the day after that
particular shooting, and dis-
covered that the bullet had
passed through the man's body
had embedded itself in the side of
her car door.
The question is this: are we,
the student body at South Texas,
willing to bear the cost of limited
security patrol for late evening
hours? This question will be put
to us in a referendum, July 17.
Cost? The cost for the security
services seems minimal when we
think of the large number of
working students who frequent
South Texas during the late
evenirj hours. For the summer
session, the Student Bar Associa-
tion's Student-Faculty Committee
will submit a cost of $2.46 per
student. For Fall and Spring
terms, the cost will be $4.92. The
cost will be added to your
registration fee.
Two off-duty Houston police
officers will establish our new
security system which has a
twofold purpose. Primarily, just
the presence of uniformed offi-
cers in the immediate area of the
school will discourage loiterers
who might approach students
returning to their cars following
late night classes. Secondly, as
the students and faculty discuss
the fact that we have such a
security system, the word will
quickly spread to the immediate
surrounding areas that we are not
alone in our efforts to assure a
safe place for students and faculty
at the South Texas law school.
If you're not a night student,
think of your fellow classmates
when the SBA puts this important
security issue to a referendum
vote, July 17. The off-duty
officers will patrol our school
between the hours of 7:30 and
10:30 p.m. and put our minds at
ease concerning loiterers who
have made it a common practice
to snatch purses and otherwise
interfere with students leaving
late night classes.
So how can we protect
ourselves? Recently, the SBI has
brought underinsured motorist
coverage to supplement un-
insured motorist coverage. It
costs an additional $5 or $6, "but
don't leave home without it."
Prior to "underinsured cover-
age" you could only recover up to
$10,000/$20,000 on bodily harm
regardless of your limits on
liability if the uninsured motorist
was at fault. Now you may
recover the difference up to your
own limitations. For example, if
your coverage is $100,000/
$30,000 and the other person has
$10,000/$20,000 and injury is
sustained for $100,000, his in-
surance will cover up to $10,000
and your insurance will is ob-
ligated for the other $90,000.
If you have neither uninsured
or underinsured motorist protec-
tion, you are out of luck. Why
should the insolvent bandit wor-
ry? He can just go home, drink a
six-pack and forget about it.
Recently, many insurance com-
panies have attempted to hound
the uninsured through the pro-
cess known as subrogation. In
short, after paying the settlement
or verdict obtained by its insured,
the insurance sues the uninsured
motorist. Although the hopes of
obtaining any compensation are
slim indeed. The judgement can
be renewed every year and a day
after it has been recorded for ten
years (unless it becomes dor-
mant), until the judgement is
satisfied. Though most judge-
ments are never satisfied, the
uninsured has the pressure of a
judgement hanging over his head
for a decade, with the knowledge
that should he acquire any . non-
exempt property, he may be
dispossessed of it. Insurance
companies claim that this sort of
harassment is obviously not suf-
ficient.
What have we got to look
forward to? More uninsured
motorist most likely. In today's
growing society, this state can ill-
afford to encourage irresponsi-
bility. Irresponsibility will con-
tinue to grow unchecked if the
status quo is maintained. So what
is the solution? One should be
made to show financial respon-
sibility, then it should be made
law without further ado. Enforce-
ment would be simple. One would
not be able to register one's
vehicle without showing proof of
insurance.
Until then, happy motoring an
and be careful, you never know
when . . .
ANNOTATIONS
Editors David Dies, Gerald S. Bettman
Managing Editor Kembra L. Smith
Business Manager . David Holmes
Advertising Coordinator Allen H. Orenberg
Editorial Writer Philippe Symonovicz
Cartoonist Lawrence R. Landry
Staff Writers Jack McCormick, Molly Speer,
Leonora C. Friend, Thomas Hamblin, Rudy
de la Garza, Elaine Rice, Jerili Romeo Little
Columnists J. Bennett Kraft
Seward B. Snell
Contributors Leon Jaworski
Carl Wald man
is published monthly except June and January
by students of South Texas College of Law, 1303 San Jacinto,
Houston, Texas 77002 (Suite No. 324).
Purpose: The objective of this paper is to inform the students
of South Texas College of Law, and the Houston legal community
on pertinent, timely, and provocative legal issues and events.
Our intent is to disseminate timely South Texas news stories,
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Dies, David & Bettman, Gerald S. South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 1, July, 1978, newspaper, July 1978; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144377/m1/6/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.