Reports from the leading motor centres of Massachusetts indicate that car owners have been very slow in applying for their new registration numbers under the provisions of the compulsory automobile insurance law, which goes into effect Jan. 1. Under that act the heaviest burden falls upon the insurance companies, as the Motor Vehicle Bureau will not register a car until the owner shows that it has been properly insured and the proper fee paid.

Despite the fact that the cost of insurance in the case of most passenger cars will not be very large, averaging around $30, it is believed that the demands made upon the family exchequers by the holiday season will leave many pocketbooks too flat to permit of insurance payments until about the middle of January. This supposition, if true, will help the insurance companies, as it will delay the rush until a more advantageous time.

While the insurance companies have accepted the law philosophically, they are not in favor of it. This objection is chiefly based upon rates promulgated by the State Insurance Commissioner and which, from the insurance companies' viewpoint, are considered too low. In fact, one of the largest companies has withdrawn from Massachusetts, leaving more than $500,000 worth of liability automobile insurance for its competitors to take over.

No actuarial experience has been developed to prove the adequacy or inadequacy of the rates, but few insurance officials believe they are sufficiently high to permit them to operated at a profit during 1927. They look forward to an adjustment of rates next year which will allow a fair profit, and there is a hopeful view that this profit will be sufficient to wipe out the expectant 1927 deficit.

The big bugaboo of the insurance companies in Massachusetts is State insurance. They are fearful lest public sentiment, aided by politicians, should force a State fund to reimburse automobile accident victims or their dependents. Strong complaints against the present law, it is felt, would aid in the enactment of a State insurance bill, hence the apparently lethargic attitude of insurance officials.

Veteran claim adjusters see in the law a harvest for accident fakers and unscrupulous attorneys. These men in former days were at a disadvantage. They were very apt to allow themselves to be slightly injured by an automobile owned by a judgment-proof, irresponsible motorist. Hence they usually chose motor cars owned by men with sufficient money to pay a judgment for damages. After Jan. 1 they will not be bothered with choosing their cars. Any motorist with a 1927 license plate will be financially responsible for any personal injuries or deaths he has caused.

How the insurance companies can trip up the accident fakers is problematical. It will be necessary to investigate all claims, but here, too, they will be handicapped. The man who is insured and who has an accident will doubtless fail to obtain witnesses and other information, leaving it to the insurance company.

Despite the fact that the new compulsory law is considered by those who have given it much study a law for the masses, opposition to it exists in certain quarters. Some legislators have voiced their intention of asking a substitute law in the next session of the Legislature.

After next March much more will be known about compulsory insurance than is the case at present. It is an uncharted field. Whether it will work out in practice as well as it has in theory will be shown in the next few months. One fact seems true and that is that the law is imprefect at present inasmuch as it does not “stagger” the load of the insurance companies and the registry officials. It will cause two weeks of confusion annually, with delay, general unpleasantnesss and inconvenience, and until that feature of the law is remedied many persons will be against it.