‘These laws work with in conjunction with the tort liability system to ensure that at-fault drivers will not only be held liable for accidents they cause, but also that they have a mechanism in place to pay for the financial consequences of those accidents.’

Well, that was a wordy mess, he grumbled to himself as he thumbed through the insurance manual for the fourth time. At least now he knew what his lawyer friend was nattering on about by encouraging him to go to court. “Fight the man!” Godwin had told him. “Don’t let ’em keep you down with those financial laws!”

Murphy had rather meekly pointed out that if he was the at-fault driver, like the book said, it wasn’t entirely unfair if the judge decided he had to pay for Miz Bernstein’s rear bumper. His insurance company would cover most of it, anyway. It was only a small deductible, and the cost of the bumper was less than the state-mandated minimum.

“That’s not the point,” Godwin had countered. “You go to court to avoid that responsibility B.S.!”