Nickerson v. Commonwealth

The single (and novel) issue here is whether the Commonwealth can be held liable to an injured person for the failure of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (registrar) to revoke the automobile registration of a person for nonpayment of motor vehicle liability insurance premiums because such person has caused injuries to another while operating his motor vehicle without such compulsory insurance. The Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b)(6), 365 Mass. 754 (1974) was allowed. The plaintiffs appealed to the Appeals Court, and we transferred the case to this court on our own…