ABSTRACT
Settled Out Of Court was published in 1970; the files that supported its statistical analysis were closed in 1962; and this revision was prepared in 1980. As part of its landmark survey of the automobile insurance question in 1970, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) organized a study of the claims files of the fifteen largest automobile insurance companies in the country, along with one smaller one. The DOT study also utilized accident configuration as an index of “presumptive negligence,” in paid claims. Perhaps most important to support the generalizability of the Acme findings, the nationwide study reaffirmed that claims are settled out of court. Among claimants paid by insurance companies, forty-six percent were represented, one-third brought suit, three percent started trial, and a mere one percent obtained a verdict.
