Let's not let perfect be the enemy of good. Education costs and housing costs are both problems that need to be solved. If community College becomes free, that's a big step in the right direction.

Reducing the cost of housing is more complicated, more controversial, and will take longer.

If you're in a wheelchair, that's going to be challenging.

That was raccaccoonie. I can understand why you'd be confused.

It's been a while since I've seen A Fish Called Wanda. What's the connection with Everything Everywhere?

I agree with you about Dorian Gray.

Also, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee probably could have been twice as long, and I still would have loved it.

>Or, Massachusetts should make shitty auto insurance companies pay out more to victims, 

Yes. That's exactly what I’m suggesting. 

>Some people, many people. Without knowing you're assuming everyone there is uninsured or has cheap health insurance. The world is not made up entirely of people who are disadvantaged financially. 

I’m not assuming that every single person in that store was poor. I’m suggesting that the financial burden should lie with the driver’s insurance, rather than the victims. If you get run over by a car, it shouldn’t matter how rich you are, or how rich the driver is. 

>This is a tragedy, not everything has to be turned into a crusade for you to take action. Worry about their health first not their finances. I would be insulted if a friend heard I was injured and the first thing they thought about was how I was going to afford it and not asked me about how I am actually feeling physically.

I am worried about their health, but at this point, nothing can be done to change the fact that they just got run over by a car. My thoughts and prayers aren’t going to help them. Money might. They could have expensive medical bills, and could be missing a lot of work. 

>Even 50/100 means that each injured would only get under $6k.

I think you and I are on the same page here. I just mentioned Maine as an example of a US state that is better than Massachusetts in this respect. Frankly, I think drivers should have to carry at least $1 Million of liability coverage. The US DOT values a human life at $9.6 Million, so even $50,000 seems kind of insulting to me.

>Liability coverage isn't a major factor for your premium. I used to be an independent insurance agent and sold over 600 policies to people in various states. I'd play all day with coverages from different carriers to try to find people the best price. Bigger factors are credit, how long you've had coverage and at what level, collision coverage + deductible, and accidents/tickets.

I didn't know this, but It makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for sharing.

I don't have access to the tools that you had. Instead, I did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation that indicates that carrying $8 Million of liability per victim should lead to less than a $2,000 increase in premiums for the average driver. ($8 Million per death times 40,000 deaths divided by 200 Million drivers).

I've been told that I'm crazy, and that increasing the liability requirements that much would result in everyone spending $50,000 per year on insurance. It's reassuring to hear that that might not be true.

Many people aren't able to afford medical care, despite having health insurance.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-09-19/medical-debt-can-crush-even-the-insured-study-shows

Yes. Still.

There is nothing in the law that indexes this for inflation. If the state house doesn't make any changes, then it will continue to be $20,000 indefinitely, regardless of how much medical costs increase.

Yes. Thank you. The purpose of insurance is to pay for freak accidents by spreading the cost among people who might be responsible for such accidents in the future.

>funny, I had this same thought about your suggestion that I pay for twice as much insurance coverage just because some other douchebags can't drive and it makes you personally offended.

To be clear: I'm not personally offended that some douchebags can't drive. I'm personally offended that 17 people just got run over by a car, and are likely going to be stuck with large medical bills and little help paying them. I'm personally offended that this happens literally every day in this country.

>They can sue the driver directly and go after any extra assets that he may have (house, retirement savings, bank accounts, the car itself),

This only helps if the driver is wealthy. If you get run over by someone without any money, you should still have help paying medical bills.

>by some miracle he has an umbrella that would kick in too.

As you seem to understand, the purpose of an umbrella policy is to protect the assets of a wealthy driver (or other policyholder). That doesn't change the fact that the victims are at the mercy of the driver's financial situation.

>That's actually why they have the low limits, if you want higher you need to get an umbrella and protect yourself.

Yes, one purpose of insurance is to protect yourself. Another purpose of it is to protect others. If you opt for the lower limit, that adversely affects anybody you run over. I think that the required insurance should increase, because the victims don't have any input in what insurance you choose.

>One question though, I had thought I read somewhere, and I could be mis-remembering that if you were charged criminally you could not be sued for personal liability in MA. Does anyone else know anything about this?

I don't know the answer to that. You might be right. I hope that's not the case.

I'm actually suggesting taking more money from the insurance companies. I realize that premiums would increase as a result, but this is not a policy that the insurance companies would want.

There's nothing rare about people being killed by cars. It happens every day in this country.

This money has to be spent regardless. I want the driver to be responsible instead of the victims.

Some people don't have health insurance. Many people have to pay a lot of money out-of-pocket despite having health insurance.

100%! We need more bollards in more places.

That's what I have, because I'm fortunate enough to afford it. If you're less fortunate, the options might be medical debt or bankruptcy.

Cars kill people every day. It's disingenuous to call this a freak accident.

The worst part is, someone died, and 16 other people were injured.

That's great if you have insurance.

That sounds perfect.