ABSTRACT
Pennsylvania offered the ambitious an attractive environment to succeed and this was particularly true in the state's motor vehicle and related enterprises. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was one of the US's most important markets for automobiles and for automobile insurance. In 1920 there was approximately one car or truck for every fifteen people in the Keystone State and only about 6.5 percent of Pennsylvanians owned cars. In 1915 Pennsylvania spent $12.5 million on its road system; by 1922 its expenditures swelled to $46.4 million. As the number of cars and trucks and the mileage of hard surfaced roads increased in Pennsylvania, the state's citizens experienced more deadly traffic accidents. In 1925 additional changes were made in Pennsylvania's motor vehicle laws. Pennsylvania's aggressive road building program was also accompanied by an effort under Governor Pinchot to improve the state's existing roads. The automobile insurance industry was in need of results in its claims work in the early 1920s.
