Who lobbies for the not-so-special folks?

Dallas Morning News | Steve Blow:

“There is a perfectly fair and practical way to make sure every driver has liability insurance. ... Liability insurance ought to be sold by the gallon. Put a special fee on top of gasoline prices and everyone would automatically buy insurance every time they bought gas. Just that easy. A dime a gallon would do it. And it's fair. The more you drive, the more risk you create, and the more you pay. But has this great idea ever gone anywhere? Absolutely not.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

This "great idea" hasn't gone anywhere for good reasons. First, miles driven is not a good predictor of insurance claim costs. More important is where you drive. Rural drivers facing long distances on every trip would pay dearly with this system, but the urban drivers making shorter trips on crowded city streets have the most accidents. Good drivers would pay the same for insurance as poor risks. Drivers of large cars (poor gas mileage but good protection in case of accident) would pay more for insurance than drivers of small cars.

The only benefit of a pay-at-the-pump liability insurance scheme is that everyone would pay something. If the current crisis of uninsured motorists persists, that benefit might eventually outweigh the unfairness of the system. But we're not there yet. And that's the reason why this "great idea" hasn't gone anywhere.