Newspaper Page Text
THE EOREST PARK NEWS, THURSDAY JULY 29, 1965
PAGE 2
The Forest Park News
1007 Central Ave. Forest p ark< Ga. 366-3080
Post OHic* Box 25, Forast Park, Ga.
Guy Butler, Editor
Subscription Rote S2OO Year - Published Each Thursday
Entered As Second Class Matter at Forest Park, Ga.
Arch Gary Reports to
Comptroller Bentley
Comments of Representath e
Arch Gary
Democrat of Clayton County
At Public Hearing Held
Friday, July 9, 1965
Before
The Honorable James L.
Bentley, Insurance
Commissioner
Georgia State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia
(Hearing being called for
the purpose of considering a
proposed rate increase for
automobile insurance in not
only Clayton County, but in
•he City of Atlanta.)
MR COMMISSIONER: It
seems to me that we are ap
proaching this problem from
the wrong direction. I've
made a careful Investigation
of the question of insurance
rates applicable in my coun
ty and in the City of At
lanta and based upon that
investigation, I’m firmly
convinced that this hearing
should be for the purpose of
determining whether or not
a decrease in rate is de
manded, rather than con
sider the possibility of an
increase in such rates.
It is my considered opin
ion that the most important
single factor against an
automobile rate increase at
this time is the fact that
the automobile classification
program currently used did
not go into effect until Jan
uary 1 oi this year. Although
this classification plan was
supposedly a redistribution
of premium charges accord
ing to the use and age of
automobiles and was thus
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represented when presented
to the public on this basis
rather than a program de
signed to increase premiums,
the concensus among insur
ance men, as related to me,
is that it has in fact re
sulted in increased rates in
75% of the cases.
For instance, prior to Jan
uary 1, 1965, the rating
classification did not affect
the rates of comprehensive,
fire and theft insurance
and neither were those rates
subject to the provisions of
the Safe Driver Insurance
Plan. Today, comprehensive,
fire and theft insurance
rates are subject, not only
to the point system of the
safe driver insurance plan,
but also to the new classifi
cation system. As a result of
this, and rate increases al
ready approved for compre
hensive and collision insur
ance, the insurance com
panies doing business in
Clayton County and in the
City of Atlanta, are now
securing as much as two to
three times more in pre
miums for comprehensive,
fire and theft insurance as
they were a year ago. Lest
anyone be in doubt as to the
accuracy of my information,
let me be specific:
1 1) For example, a father,
owning a 1964 Pontiac Le-
Mans, who is purchasing
comprehensive coverage for
his twenty year old son as
of July 1, 1965, will find the
situation to be thus:
In July, 1964, he would
have paid approxim ate 1 y
528.00 for comprehensive
coverage. If this young son
had had one accident for
over $50,000 during the year,
his premiums for compre
hensive coverage on July 1.
1965 was $75.00. Even with
out an accident, his pre
miums for his twenty year
old son for comprehensive
coverage would be $65.00 or
an actual increase of 132%.
When you consider this in
crease and take into con
sideration th at the-car
being insured is a year
older, and, thus, of less
value, the increase is almost
unbelievable. In fact, this
example was so astonishing
to me that I had to double
check the facts before I was
willing to comment publicly
about the situation. My in
vestigation also discloses
that there are also definite
increases in comprehensive
rates for (1) all who use
their automobile in busi
ness; <2> for those who have
young daughters who drive;
(3) all young male oper
ators. as well as anyone who
has had an “at fault" acci
dent of more than $50.00
during the past year. All of
this is true, simply because
the comprehensive rates are
now subject to the new
"rating classifications”.
What possible logical basis
is there for applying an in
creased rate as to compre
hensive coverage to minors?
Can anyone seriously con
tend that a minor’s automo
bile is more likely to catch
on fire or to be stolen than
that of the adult. Let me
buttress these remarks by
another example, which,
though not as extreme as
the one I have cited, is
equally as illustrative of the
point which I seek to make.
Last year, if one was seek
ing such insurance on a 1964
C h e v r o let, eight-cylinder,
Impala, Four-Door Sedan,
used in business, his pre
mium would have been
$28.00. On July 1, 1965, it was
$32.00. Thus, the premium
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OPPORTUNITY ONLY USED TO HAVE TO KNOCK
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has increased $4.00, even
though the car is now a year
older and thus the exposure
to the insurance company
materially reduced. Prior to
the new classification sys
tem, we would have had a
renewal premium in 1965 of
only $24.00 rather than the
$32 00 which we had July 1,
1965. This results in a 33>/ 3 %
increase in premium for the
same car today as opposed
to July, 1964. If you have
any doubt as to whether we
are approaching this prob
lem from the wrong direc
tion, let me point out fur
ther that while the cost of
comprehensive insurance on
the above new car in 1964
was $20.00, the cost of the*
same model new automobile
in 1965 would be $45.00, an
increase of 60% on compar
able automobiles.
I submit that any busi
nessman would be happy if
he could Increase the sales
price of his product by 60%
and not reduce his volume
of sales. In fact, I think I
could not be accused of
overstatement if I used the
word “delirious" rather than
“happy". In what way is the
average businessman, like
myself, different from the
average insurance business
man? The difference is
obvious: Insurance has now
become a necessity and the
driving public is compelled
to buy insurance, regardless
of the cost to him. Our only
remedy, Mr. Commissioner,
is to look to you to see that
we are protected.
It takes nothing more
than a look at the facts to
rebut the contention of the
insurance companies that
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THE FAST, CONVENIENT WAY
TO BANK
(All it takes is a car and an account at Citizens Bank)
You'll find our drive-in facilities handy for
making a quick deposit or cashing a check.
Just jump in the car and come as you are.
Ideal for short breaks, lunch hours and
quick shopping trips.
You'll find other banking conveniences,
too, such as night depository, automatic
savings, bank-by-mail and save-by-mail.
the automobile thief has
made an increase manda
tory. The record shows that
in the first six months of
1965, only 22 cars were
stolen in Clayton County;
whereas, 40 cars were stolen
in the first six months of
1964. In the City of Atlanta,
there was also an actual de
crease in automobile thefts
during the first five months
of 1965, as compared with
the like period in 1964. As
always, facts speak for
NEWS-VIEWS
• FEATURES • OPINIONS
HOW TO GROW MORE CORN
INCREASED STATE YIELDS
IN BUSHELS PER ACRE
0 10 20 30 40
S DAKOTA MB- —
IOWA MB —-
NEBRASKA MM "
VIRGINIA MM - ■
MISSOURI MBB '
ILLINOIS MBB
MINNESOTA 888 -
KANSAS MMM —
Kentucky
INDIANA MM^' —
NEW JERSEY MM - —-'
MARYLAND BMBM
MICHIGAN MMI
PENNSYLVANIA MBBB
OHIO BMM ■
WISCONSIN MBBB -
AVERAGE ■^■BB-' ' * _
FOR ALL ——
CORN STATES I L
The 1964 corn-growing sea
son was far from normal. Some
areas had heavy rains early in
the year, other regions had
their heavy rains late in the
season, while other parts of
the country suffered their I
worst drought in twenty years
themselves.
In closing, I would like to
make a few constructive
comments in regard to this
issue. The public is not en
tirely free from blame when
it comes to the question of
insurance rates. The only
way to insure permanent
reductions in automobile in
surance premiums is to
adopt a program which will,
in fact, reduce the number
and severity of automobile
accidents and the injuries
resulting therefrom. As a
member of the General As
sembly, I intend to continue
to work for an expanded
Highway Patrol, operating
in marked automobiles, in
the hope that this will help
ego a out to moke banking at Citizens
an p easant and convenient. Won't you
riv e in t e next time you are in the neigh
borhood'’ a
President
Many farmers found, hojv
ever, that when moisture con
ditions are not just right, you
don't get hurt at all—or at least
not very badly - if you take a !
vantage of this "high prolit
quartet": plant thick; apply
plenty of fertilizer; use a hy
brid or hybrids that adapt well
to crowding; follow up with a
broadcast application of an ef
fectiveherbicide. like Atrazine.
Based on yield checks made
on 2,689 farms across the Corn
Belt, those farmers who are
. using Atrazine as the hub of
their weed control program,
can anticipate boosting yields,
on the average by 23 bushels
per acre, and under adverse
growing conditions- as shown
in the bar chart on the left.
Exactly how much corn was
made on an individual farm in
1964 depended on the specific
conditions encountered. But
since, in each case, the Atra
zine treated area was compared
directly with an adjoining un
treated area and. since in both
areas, seed and fertilizer used
was the same, yield increases
in the treated area could only
be attributed to the weed con
trol from Atrazine.
reduce our accident rate. As
a citizen, I intend to con
tinue to point out to all
those prospective jurors that
while the law is designed to
compensate one for the in
juries received as a result of
the negligent operation of
an automobile by another,
that compensation means
just that; that sympathy
should play no part in a jury
verdict and that the public
are the losers when jurors
allow sympathy to interfere
with their duty to compen
sate, not enrich the victims
of automobile accidents. The
juror, who awards the ex
cessive verdict, is not strik
ing back at the insurance
company . . . he’s striking