Have An Accident? - Pay For The Response

Accident in Howell Twp. - Route 33 & Colts Neck Road


...
The accident that is played out in the video shown above, courtesy of the Asbury Park Press, is a common occurrence in any region of the USA. There are dozens of accidents nationally everyday, sometimes dozens just in one municipality. In this time of budget crunches in most of these municipalities, the following may prove to be a cash cow.

The time has finally come to have motorists pay directly for the emergency response to an accident. Yep, that's right, bill them directly. No insurance company, bill directly. If the motorist does not pay, garnish wages, or place a lean on their house if they own one.

Emergency service organizations and municipalities need to put a price tag on the cost of police, fire, EMS, and road crews, responding to the scene of an accident. Let's peg those costs directly to the drivers of the vehicles involved. If it's a three car accident, divide the cost of the response by three.

Let the insurance companies sort it out between them. I'm sure that the insurance industry will welcome this on two fronts. One, they may be able to sell optional Response Insurance to motorists. Secondly, this could actually have a significant impact on the accident rate. Maybe, just maybe, drivers may slow down, they may actually stop at a stop sign, they may actually signal a turn, they may actually yield to traffic, they may actually retract that middle finger and smile.