The concept of insuring a car came from the idea that driving a car on public roads is a privilege, not a right, and drivers should make sure innocent bystanders are not injured, or, if they are, they should be provided compensation.
The concept can be traced back even further, when the Chinese used to insure their ships against piracy and other mishap. Car insurance is a follow through of that ancient Chinese concept of marine insurance.
The first car insurance was taken out in Great Britain in 1895, long before the popularity of the motor vehicle. The first American car insurance was provided to a New York doctor named Martin, and the year was 1898, precisely ten years before the general introduction of the motor vehicle in the US, in 1908.
It took 30 more years for car insurance to begin to be mandatory in the US. The first law that made having car insurance mandatory was passed in Massachusetts in 1927. The law made it compulsory for car owners to have a minimum of third party insurance on their cars. Soon, other states followed suit, and having a car insurance became universally compulsory.
The concepts of comprehensive and collision coverage took time to develop. As more and more insurance companies were established, people started giving more thought to the principles of car insurance.
Today, every American state requires a car owner to have car insurance. In fact, most countries in the world do so. With the development of modern ideas, the concept of securing proper care for injured third parties has become firmly established. This is also why it is a crime to drive away from the site of an accident after having injured someone.
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