Highway Robbery () von Peter Kinzler

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. “Fifty Ways to Lose Your Recovery”: So You Think Your Auto Insurance Will Protect You

2. “Las Vegas Has Better Odds Than That”: Studies Detail the Shortcomings of the Fault System, and Support Builds for No-Fault Auto Insurance

3. Early Congressional Action: A Consumer Icon Goes Missing in Action (1968–

1974)

4. How to Get a Committee Counsel Position on Capitol Hill

5. “I’m Just a Bill on Capitol Hill”: A Primer on How to Move Legislation in the 1970s

6. “Van Deerlin’s a Really Nice Guy, but that Kinzler’s a Son of a Bitch": Early House Hearings and Chairman-Staff Relationships (1975)

7. The House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Reports a No-Fault Bill, Only to See the Senate Bill Falter (1975–1976)

8. New Key Players in the Ninety-Fifth Congress: Rep. Bob Eckhardt, Pres. Jimmy Carter, and Sen. Howard Cannon Tackle No-Fault (1977)

9. Eckhardt, Carter, and Cannon Support No-Fault, Only to Be Betrayed by Sen. John Durkin (June 1977–August 1, 1978)

10. One Last Chance: Eckhardt Rejects Late Compromise and Goes to Full Committee Markup (July 25, 1978–August 1, 1978)

11. Decompression, Depression, Introspection, and a Failed Effort to Secure Support for a Choice No-Fault Bill (Fall 1978)

12. Experience with Other Liability Reform Issues Leads to a Surprise Return to No-Fault (1981–1996)

13. Two Decades of Changes in State Auto Insurance Laws Fail to Fix the Major Problems

14. No-Fault Rises Like a Phoenix from the Ashes, Reincarnated as Auto Choice, with a Focus on Lower Premiums and Choice (1992–1998)

15. Let’s All Change Partners and Dance Again: Political Support for Auto Choice Flip-Flops (1996–1998)

16. The Rubber Hits the Road: Congressional Consideration of Auto Choice (1996–2004)

17. Is There Some Education in the Second Kick of a Mule?

18. Afterword: Does Auto Insurance Reform Have Another Turn on the Federal Agenda?

Appendix 1: Democratic Heritage of Automobile Insurance Reform (1999)

Appendix 2: The Benefits of the Auto Choice Reform Act for Low-Income Persons (1999)

Appendix 3: Bipartisan Heritage of Automobile Insurance Legislation: No-Fault Insurance in the 1970s and Auto Choice Proposals Today (1997)

Appendix 4: Why Auto Choice is Different from Other Tort Reform Issues (1999)

Appendix 5: The Current Auto Liability Insurance System vs. the Personal Injury Protection System of Auto Choice (1999)

Chronology

Glossary of Players

Notes

Bibliography

Index