RABINOWITZ, Justice.
The crux of this appeal involves interpretation of Alaska’s Motor Vehicle Safety
Responsibility Act.
We affirm the superi- or court’s judgment which granted both a summary judgment and declaratory judgment in appellee National’s favor.
On September 18, 1964, appellant Peter Hart was injured when a car in which he was riding left Dowling Road, near Anchorage, and crashed. At the time of the accident the vehicle was being driven by David Harwood and was occupied by appellant Hart, Wayne Tollefsrud, and two other passengers. The automobile, which was involved in the accident, was owned by Gary P. Cook who, on the occasion of the accident, had given David Harwood permission to use the vehicle.
Prior to the accident Cook had, on June 3, 1964, obtained from appellee National Indemnity Company an automobile liability insurance policy on the vehicle which was involved in the accident. This policy was effective from June 3, 1964, until June 3, 1965, and contained a restrictive endorsement for “Military, Minor & Student Risks” which read in part as follows:
It is hereby understood and agreed that such coverage as is afforded hereunder is void and of no effect, except as respects the loss payee, while the automobile insured hereunder is operated by any person other than the named assured or members of the immediate family.
On February 23, 1965, appellant Hart instituted suit in the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, against Cook, Harwood, and Tollefsrud for the injuries he sustained in the September 18, 1964, accident. While appellant’s action was pending, appellee National filed' a complaint for declaratory judgment in the lower court naming appellant, Cook, Harwood, and Tollefs-rud as defendants.
In its complaint National asserted that the insurance policy it had issued to Cook afforded “no coverage to the defendants * * ⅜ for the reason that the insured vehicle was being driven by a person other than the named insured or a member of the immediate family of the insured at the time of the accident.” Appellee National requested the superior court to declare that its policy did not provide coverage to defendants with reference to appellant Hart’s action against them, and that it be further declared that National “is no longer [required] * * * to provide or continue a defense in such action on behalf of Gary P. Cook, David M. Harwood and Wayne IT. Tollefsrud or either of them in such case.”
Appellant Hart then filed an answer in the declaratory judgment action and moved for summary judgment.
The basis of Hart’s motion for summary judgment was that the “Military, Minor & Student Risks” endorsement contained in the policy, which National issued to Cook, was ineffective as a limitation to the policy’s general coverage since the endorsement was made effective from June 3, 1965.
At the hearing held on appellant’s motion for summary judgment, appellee National filed the original of the policy it had issued to Cook. The effective date of the restrictive endorsement for “Military, Minor & Student Risks,” as it appears in the original policy, was shown as June 3, 1964.
On the face of the original policy it appears that it was cancelled on October 1, 1964.
In addition to filing the original policy, ap-pellee filed the affidavits of Erna D. Vogt, its secretary, and Leo H. Cassidy, its superintendent of claims, in opposition to appellant’s motion for summary judgment.
Erna Vogt’s affidavit stated that the original policy “was delivered to Gary P. Cook and returned to our Company at the time of its cancellation * * *Her affidavit further stated that:
Attached to said policy, as issued, was an endorsement entitled ‘Endorsement for Military, Minor and Student Risks’, said endorsement being identified as NI 366. This endorsement was effective on June 3, 1964. A certified copy of the policy was prepared recently and, as a result of a typographical error, this endorsement was stated to be effective June 3, 1965.
The hearing on appellant’s motion for summary judgment was then continued for three weeks to enable appellant’s counsel to check the purported original of the policy, which appellee had filed in opposition to the summary judgment motion. We note that no affidavit from Cook, or any other evidence, was produced showing that the purported original was not in fact the original of the policy which had been issued and delivered to Cook. At the expiration of the three-week continuance, appellant filed a supplemental memorandum in support of his motion for summary judgment.
In this memorandum appellant, for the first time, raised the contention that the “Military, Minor & Student Risks” endorsement was made unenforceable by the terms of our Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act. Appellee National then filed a “crossmotion” for summary judgment. In granting appellee summary judgment in its favor, the superior court also declared that appel-lee’s
policy ACEE 324086 does not furnish insurance coverage to Gary P. Cook, David H. Harwood and Wayne H. Tollefsrud, with reference to the claims pending in
the Superior Court for the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District, cause no. 65-258A, and that plaintiff is n® longer required to provide or continue any defense in such action on behalf of Gary P. Cook, David M. Harwood, or Wayne H. Tol-lefsrud.
On the basis of this record we affirm the trial judge’s ruling that no genuine issue as to the effective date of the “Military, Minor & Student Risks” endorsement was raised.
Appellant offered no evidence to dispute the fact that the restrictive endorsement was effective as of June 3, 1964, nor was any evidence produced which contradicted the fact that the June 3, 1965, date which appeared on the copy filed with ajp-pellee’s complaint was the result of a typographical error.
This leads to the issue of whether the restrictive endorsement in question was prohibited by the provisions of our Motor Ve-hide Safety Responsibility Act. In the act’s declaration of purpose it is stated that:
The legislature is concerned over the rising toll of motor vehicle accidents and the suffering and loss inflicted by them. The legislature determines that it is a matter of grave concern that motorists be financially responsible for their negligent acts so that innocent victims of motor vehicle accidents may be recompensed for the injury and financial loss inflicted upon them.
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RABINOWITZ, Justice.
The crux of this appeal involves interpretation of Alaska’s Motor Vehicle Safety
Responsibility Act.
We affirm the superi- or court’s judgment which granted both a summary judgment and declaratory judgment in appellee National’s favor.
On September 18, 1964, appellant Peter Hart was injured when a car in which he was riding left Dowling Road, near Anchorage, and crashed. At the time of the accident the vehicle was being driven by David Harwood and was occupied by appellant Hart, Wayne Tollefsrud, and two other passengers. The automobile, which was involved in the accident, was owned by Gary P. Cook who, on the occasion of the accident, had given David Harwood permission to use the vehicle.
Prior to the accident Cook had, on June 3, 1964, obtained from appellee National Indemnity Company an automobile liability insurance policy on the vehicle which was involved in the accident. This policy was effective from June 3, 1964, until June 3, 1965, and contained a restrictive endorsement for “Military, Minor & Student Risks” which read in part as follows:
It is hereby understood and agreed that such coverage as is afforded hereunder is void and of no effect, except as respects the loss payee, while the automobile insured hereunder is operated by any person other than the named assured or members of the immediate family.
On February 23, 1965, appellant Hart instituted suit in the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, against Cook, Harwood, and Tollefsrud for the injuries he sustained in the September 18, 1964, accident. While appellant’s action was pending, appellee National filed' a complaint for declaratory judgment in the lower court naming appellant, Cook, Harwood, and Tollefs-rud as defendants.
In its complaint National asserted that the insurance policy it had issued to Cook afforded “no coverage to the defendants * * ⅜ for the reason that the insured vehicle was being driven by a person other than the named insured or a member of the immediate family of the insured at the time of the accident.” Appellee National requested the superior court to declare that its policy did not provide coverage to defendants with reference to appellant Hart’s action against them, and that it be further declared that National “is no longer [required] * * * to provide or continue a defense in such action on behalf of Gary P. Cook, David M. Harwood and Wayne IT. Tollefsrud or either of them in such case.”
Appellant Hart then filed an answer in the declaratory judgment action and moved for summary judgment.
The basis of Hart’s motion for summary judgment was that the “Military, Minor & Student Risks” endorsement contained in the policy, which National issued to Cook, was ineffective as a limitation to the policy’s general coverage since the endorsement was made effective from June 3, 1965.
At the hearing held on appellant’s motion for summary judgment, appellee National filed the original of the policy it had issued to Cook. The effective date of the restrictive endorsement for “Military, Minor & Student Risks,” as it appears in the original policy, was shown as June 3, 1964.
On the face of the original policy it appears that it was cancelled on October 1, 1964.
In addition to filing the original policy, ap-pellee filed the affidavits of Erna D. Vogt, its secretary, and Leo H. Cassidy, its superintendent of claims, in opposition to appellant’s motion for summary judgment.
Erna Vogt’s affidavit stated that the original policy “was delivered to Gary P. Cook and returned to our Company at the time of its cancellation * * *Her affidavit further stated that:
Attached to said policy, as issued, was an endorsement entitled ‘Endorsement for Military, Minor and Student Risks’, said endorsement being identified as NI 366. This endorsement was effective on June 3, 1964. A certified copy of the policy was prepared recently and, as a result of a typographical error, this endorsement was stated to be effective June 3, 1965.
The hearing on appellant’s motion for summary judgment was then continued for three weeks to enable appellant’s counsel to check the purported original of the policy, which appellee had filed in opposition to the summary judgment motion. We note that no affidavit from Cook, or any other evidence, was produced showing that the purported original was not in fact the original of the policy which had been issued and delivered to Cook. At the expiration of the three-week continuance, appellant filed a supplemental memorandum in support of his motion for summary judgment.
In this memorandum appellant, for the first time, raised the contention that the “Military, Minor & Student Risks” endorsement was made unenforceable by the terms of our Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act. Appellee National then filed a “crossmotion” for summary judgment. In granting appellee summary judgment in its favor, the superior court also declared that appel-lee’s
policy ACEE 324086 does not furnish insurance coverage to Gary P. Cook, David H. Harwood and Wayne H. Tollefsrud, with reference to the claims pending in
the Superior Court for the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District, cause no. 65-258A, and that plaintiff is n® longer required to provide or continue any defense in such action on behalf of Gary P. Cook, David M. Harwood, or Wayne H. Tol-lefsrud.
On the basis of this record we affirm the trial judge’s ruling that no genuine issue as to the effective date of the “Military, Minor & Student Risks” endorsement was raised.
Appellant offered no evidence to dispute the fact that the restrictive endorsement was effective as of June 3, 1964, nor was any evidence produced which contradicted the fact that the June 3, 1965, date which appeared on the copy filed with ajp-pellee’s complaint was the result of a typographical error.
This leads to the issue of whether the restrictive endorsement in question was prohibited by the provisions of our Motor Ve-hide Safety Responsibility Act. In the act’s declaration of purpose it is stated that:
The legislature is concerned over the rising toll of motor vehicle accidents and the suffering and loss inflicted by them. The legislature determines that it is a matter of grave concern that motorists be financially responsible for their negligent acts so that innocent victims of motor vehicle accidents may be recompensed for the injury and financial loss inflicted upon them. The legislature finds and declares that the public interest can best be served by the requirements that the operator of a motor vehicle involved in an accident respond for damages and show proof of financial ability to respond for damages in future accidents as a prerequisite to his exercise of the privilege of operating a motor vehicle in the state.
After providing for administration by the Department of Public Safety
the act
deals with essentially two subjects, namely, the requirement of a deposit of security
•and proof of financial responsibility for the future.
The deposit of security provisions of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act come into play when a
vehicle subject to registration under the laws of this state * * * is involved in ■any manner in an accident in this state resulting in bodily injury to or death of •a person or damage to the property of any one person exceeding $200.
"When such an accident occurs, the Department of Public Safety is required to “determine the amount of security it considers sufficient to satisfy any judgments for damages resulting from the accident which may be recovered against each driver or owner.”
After this determination has been made, the department is required to
.give written notice to every person of the ■amount of security required to be deposited by him and stating that an order of suspension will be made upon the expiration of 10 days after the notice is sent unless within that time security is deposited as required.
It is specifically provided that the requirements as to deposit of security and suspension are not applicable to:
(1) the driver or owner if the owner had in effect at the time of the accident an automobile liability policy or bond with respect to the vehicle involved in the accident * * *.
(2) the driver who is not the owner if there was in effect at the time of the accident an automobile liability policy or bond with respect to his driving of vehicles not owned by him * * * ,
As to the type of automobile liability policy or bond which would enable a driver or owner to avoid the deposit of security requirements, the act requires that the policy or bond be issued by “an insurance company or surety company authorized to do business in this state” and that the policy on hand contain a
limit, exclusive of interest and costs, of not less than $10,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident and, subject to the same limit for one person, to a limit of not less than $20,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident * * *.
Regarding the second major aspect of this act, it is provided that proof of financial responsibility for the future is required of
persons who are convicted of or forfeit bail for certain offenses under motor vehicle laws or who, by ownership or operation of a vehicle of a type subject to registration under the motor vehicle laws of this state, are involved in an accident in this state which results in bodily injury or death of a person or damage to the property of any one person exceeding $200.
The act defines “proof of financial responsibility for the future” as meaning
proof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of an accident occurring after the effective date of proof, which arises out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a vehicle subject to registration under the laws of this state * * *. As used in this chapter the terms ‘proof of financial responsibility’
or ‘proof’ mean proof of financial responsibility for the future.
The act then provides for the suspension of the license of the operator of a motor vehicle involved in the accident unless the operator or owner
(1) has previously furnished or immediately furnishes security required by this chapter, or is excepted from furnishing security under § 60 [AS 28.20.060 (1), (2)] of this chapter, and
(2) maintains proof of financial responsibility for three years following the accident.
The only other section of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act that has any relevance to this appeal is AS 28.20.440. Subsection (a) of AS 28.20.440 defines “motor vehicle liability policy” as meaning
an ‘owner policy’ or an ‘operator’s policy’ containing an agreement or endorsement as provided in this section, or certified as provided in § 410 * * * as proof of financial responsibility for the future, and issued * * * by an insurance carrier authorized to transact business in this state, to or for the benefit of the person named as insured.
Subsection (b) (2) of AS 28.20.440 requires that the owner’s policy of liability insurance shall
insure the person named and every other person using the vehicle with the express or implied permission of the named insured, against loss from the liability imposed by law for damages arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the vehicle within the United States of America or the Dominion of Canada * * *.
AS 28.20.440(f) (1) provides that:
(f) Every motor vehicle liability policy is subject to the following provisions but these provisions need not be contained in the policy.
(1) The liability of the insurance carrier becomes absolute whenever injury
or damage covered by the policy occurs * * *.
No law of Alaska requires a driver or owner to carry automobile liability insurance as a prerequisite to his owning or operating a motor vehicle in this state. It is clear from the foregoing sections of our Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act that until a driver or owner has an accident a person can own and operate a motor vehicle without having first obtained liability insurance. It is only after an accident has occurred that the act’s provisions pertaining to deposit of security and proof of financial responsibility for the future come into play.
It is undisputed that the policy in question, which was issued by appellee National to Gary Cook, was not one that was either certified, or required, as proof of financial responsibility for the future. It was a voluntary policy issued by appellee National to one who, at the time of issuance, was under no obligation to make either a deposit of security or furnish proof of future financial responsibility under the provisions of our Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act.
More particularly, we construe the absolute liability provisions of AS 28.20.440 (f) (1) as being limited by AS 28.20.440(a), which provides that such absolute liability provisions are made part of only those motor vehicles liability policies which are certified or required as proof of financial responsibility for the future.
Nor do we believe the fact that the liability policy in question contained a condition relating to financial responsibility laws automatically resulted in the incorporation of AS 28.20.440(f) (1)’s absolute liability provisions into the policy. Condition 9 of the policy provided in part as follows:
Financial Responsibility Laws — Coverages A and B: When this policy is certified as proof of financial responsibility for the future under the provisions of the motor vehicle financial responsibility law of any state or province, such insurance as is afforded by this policy for bodily injury liability or for property damage liability shall comply with the
provisions of such law which shall be applicable with respect to any such liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the automobile during the policy period, to the extent of the coverage and limits of liability required by such law, but in no event in excess of the limits of liability stated in this policy.
We interpret Condition 9 as limited to the instance where the policy “is certified as proof of financial responsibility for the future.” In our view, Condition 9 does not constitute a contractual agreement that the policy was amended to include AS 28.-20.440(f) (1)’s absolute liability provision arid thereby vitiating the restrictive endorsement in question.
The majority of those jurisdictions which have had occasion to pass on similar issues have concluded that safety responsibility acts are applicable only to those policies which are required or certified under such acts. Typical of these authorities is Hoosier Cas. Co. of Indianapolis, Ind. v. Fox,
where it was stated in part:
The kind of policy referred to in Sec. 321A.21(6) (a) is a ‘motor-vehicle liability policy’ which has been certified as proof of future financial responsibility. The words ‘motor-vehicle liability policy’ are used in the Act as a term of art, having reference only to policies
certified
as
proof
under the proof section of the Act. This is to distinguish such a policy from the ‘automobile liability policy’ which can exempt an operator or owner from furnishing security under Sec. 321A.5 of the Act.
In Duff v. Alliance Mut. Cas. Co.
it was stated in part:
The policy was voluntarily carried * *. In such case the Oklahoma Supreme Court considering a case of non-coverage, has held, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Walker (Okl.1958), 329 P.2d 852, 853:
‘A policy of automobile liability insurance, voluntarily carried by an operator who has never been required to furnish proof of financial responsibility under the provisions of the safety responsibility act, and not certified as such proof, is not “required by said law” and the insurer. is not precluded from relying on policy defenses because of the provisions of 47 O.S.1951 § 521.’
Implicit in our resolution of the issues in this appeal which pertain to Alaska’s Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act, is our conclusion that the restrictive endorsement in question does not contravene the public policy of this state as expressed in the act. Appellant’s reliance on Wild-man v. Government Employees’ Ins. Co.
is inapposite. There California’s public policy was clearly expressed in its enactment of an owner’s liability act.
We have no such legislation in this jurisdiction.
In our view the basic policy decisions as to whether compulsory insurance was to be required and as to whether all motor vehicle liability policies must conform to the requirements of our Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act have been previously determined by our legislature. Any change in these policies is peculiarly within that body’s province.
The judgment entered below is affirmed.