Since it was first introduced in 1992, the ROC's Compulsory Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Act had experienced a bumpy ride, languishing for years in the Legislative Yuan. Yet in recent months public officials even at the highest levels began to pay attention. Thereafter, the media began to focus on this issue with intensity, and finally the bill became law on December 13. The law is based on five core principles: no-fault insurance; jurisdiction by the Ministry of Finance; state control but private administration; a one-track system (compulsory insurance); neither financial profit nor loss.

This law was established especially for victims of automobile accidents. It adopts the no-fault principle. That means that regardless of whether or not the driver was at fault, anyone injured can immediately receive one-half the limit of insurance payments. Indeed, the driver himself may be eligible for insurance coverage. Moreover, victims can receive the remainder of the total amount within 15 days after filing for compensation. The insurance covers injury, medical treatment, disability, or death. The main spirit of the law is to confirm the social responsibility of drivers and to protect the rights of all citizens.

This law, established with such good intentions, was in fact being studied as early as 1987 by the Council for Economic Planning and Development. After ceaseless protests and petitions over the past seven years by Ko Li Yu-chiung, the mother of an accident victim, and by the Automobile Accident Victims Assistance Association that she founded, finally in November President Lee Teng-hui met with "Mother Ko." This aroused widespread attention in society, and the law was passed at "super speed."

Looking back on why the law had been hung up for four years in the legislature, there were two main reasons: First, some legislators were concerned that there was collusion on behalf of the insurance industry to help them reap as much as NT$20-30 billion per year in profits on compulsory liability insurance. Thus there was endless debate over whether the system should be state-guided and state-run, or state-guided and privately run. The other sticking point was whether to replace the current two-track system, which allowed for either liability insurance policies or corporate guarantee deposits with a one-track insurance policy system. The two-track system would limit the profits of the insurance industry, while the one-track system would increase costs for trucking and transport companies. Some legislators spoke on behalf of those involved, while others feared they would be branded as colluding with special interest groups. Nobody budged an inch. Thus a law that seemed simple on the surface was repeatedly delayed. Were it not for Mother Ko's undaunted spirit and efforts, who knows when the compulsory insurance law would have seen the light of day.

In 1989, Mother Ko's son Ko Chung-yu, a graduate student in business administration at Tunghai University, was killed by a tractor-trailer truck. Putting aside her grief, Mother Ko went to the company, only to be heartlessly told: "Eight out of ten trucks run into something. Take NT$300,000 [about US$10,000] or take it to court." Her grief turned to determination, from that point on Mother Ko made it her mission in life to foster the passage of the Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance Act. Moreover, in 1990 she founded the Automobile Accident Victims Assistance Association, which to date has helped over 20,000 accident victims handle their compensation cases.

Hoping to encourage the government to move quickly on this well-intended law, every Tuesday and Friday, year in and year out, Mother Ko set up a shrine to accident victims at the entrance to the Legislative Yuan, and she did the same at the headquarters of the ruling Kuomintang every Wednesday. She was labeled by the security agencies as a "frequent petitioner" and was investigated for a long period. Ko, who had only a primary school education, studied all kinds of materials relevant to the law, and seized every opportunity to contact legislators and officials. Every 20 or 30 days she sent a new petition to President Lee and the heads of the five branches of government, and she showed up at every session of the Legislative Yuan.

Mother Ko even went on two hunger strikes, for which she required emergency medical attention. And she led the family members of accident victims in bearing a coffin to the doors of the legislature by way of protest. She tried every approach she could think of. While these efforts usually got no response, Mother Ko was continually the subject of media reports, and she became synonymous with the Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance Act. Due to her unceasing efforts, this bill became familiar to citizens, and finally was passed into law, benefiting all the people.

Mother Ko invested more than 3000 days of blood, sweat, and tears, as well as countless amounts of money, to play midwife to this law, creating a unique legend in the annals of law in the ROC. In fact, it could theoretically be called "Mother Ko's Law." The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications have already reached the mutual conclusion that, starting Jan. 1, 1998, both automobiles and motorcycles must be insured. It is estimated that the act will cover more than 14 million vehicles. The Legislative Yuan estimates that the annual insurance premium for a small-sized sedan will be approximately NT$2300, and a motorcycle's will be approximately NT$780. The Ministry of Finance has already hired a group of experts to investigate plans for compensation of either NT$1, 1.2 or 1.5 million, based on the principle of the lowest possible premium and the highest possible compensation.

With the law now enacted, Mother Ko is preparing to keep an eye on whether the rates set for payment will be reasonable. All citizens should open their eyes and see how many laws there are still stuck in the legislature because the president has not directed attention to them. Perhaps none of us can ever become a Mother Ko, but we should at least fulfill the minimum responsibilities of voters in a democracy, and oversee the elected and non-elected officials who are supposed to serve the people; only then will we really have rule by the people.

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After the Compulsory Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Act made it through its third Legislative Yuan reading, Mother Ko and her fellow campaigners elatedly walked out of the legislature, signalling to passers-by to announce that the law had finally been passed. (photo by Chung Chih-hua)