It was way too long before anyone took auto insurance fraud in Massachusetts seriously.

Investigators knew fraud was a major problem in Lawrence at least as far back as 1989 or 1990, when Daniel Johnston of the Insurance Fraud Bureau recalls there was an unusual accident in the city. One car hit a parked car at 6 a.m., and remarkably, six people claimed to be in each vehicle. Eleven of the 12 victims went to the same chiropractor and had the same attorney.

Johnston said the bogus accident was reported to the state attorney general but the matter was never prosecuted.

That remained the case for years as no one, from prosecutors to insurers to law enforcement, was much inclined to do anything about insurance fraud. It was nickel-and-dime crime.

But those nickels and dimes add up.

Lawrence developed an unsavory reputation as the auto insurance capital of the state, where a staggering average of 141 injuries per 100 accidents were reported. The statewide average was 38 injuries per 100 accidents.

All those bogus "injuries" coming out of Lawrence meant big money. "Runners" were paid to recruit people to stage phony car accidents. The "victims" were then treated by chiropractors and physical therapists while lawyers negotiated settlements with the insurers.

Good drivers who had nothing to do with the phony accidents paid for it all through their insurance premiums. Rates for drivers living in Lawrence were among the highest in the state.

But it wasn't just Lawrence residents who paid. Drivers in surrounding communities paid higher premiums to subsidize Lawrence, where rates otherwise would have been even higher.

It wasn't until the 2003 death of a Lawrence great-grandmother in a staged accident that law enforcement and prosecutors were prompted to act. The Lawrence police, under Chief John Romero, set up a task force that so far has charged 369 people with insurance fraud.

The task force, which consists of Lawrence detectives and fraud bureau investigators working with investigators of several insurance companies, prosecutors of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office and the state attorney general's office, has broken the back of the local insurance fraud racket and spread its successful strategy statewide.

The payoff for drivers has been enormous, Eagle-Tribune writer Mark E. Vogler reports. The fraud crackdown has saved Massachusetts insurance policy holders a half billion dollars over the last five years — $40 million in Lawrence alone.

That so much has been achieved by a comparatively small effort is stunning. It illustrates clearly the principle that what individually might be perceived as petty crimes can add up to a huge societal impact.

No one who lives in Lawrence and purchases car insurance can deny that the auto fraud task force's efforts have produced results.

This effort should have started much sooner. How much more money could Lawrence drivers have saved had those who were cheating the system faced punishment for their misdeeds?

But now that it has begun, there must be no letup. We have to keep the pressure on the cheats and frauds. As soon as they believe there are no consequences for their crimes, they'll be back. And honest drivers once again will be left footing the bill.