No insurance leads to rear-end hassles
Although South Africa is supposed to be the economic hub of Africa, we still lag behind in quite a few not-so-innovative policies - one of these being that of third party insurance. In many countries throughout the world any licensed driver is, by law, required to possess valid third party insurance as a minimum requirement.
In the UK for instance, a law that has been in existence since 1930, requires that road users have a basic level of insurance to indemnify third parties. Essentially, this law provides that you must have some kind of insurance, or protection, against the liability to third parties (including pedestrians or other road users) in the event that injury is caused upon them, or their property is damaged, as a result of your use of the road.
Quite simply, this boils down to the fact that other people should be protected against you and your vehicle, should you be found to have caused the incident. I’m sure we would all like to receive the appropriate attention should another driver bump into us.
Let’s face it, it’s already a squeeze paying the power bill, plus the food on the table is depleting thanks to the rising grocery bill. So, consider the position where you accidentally crash into another vehicle, but don’t have insurance. Who can comfortably afford to cover damages to the other driver’s car? Even medical bills arising from injuries inflicted - and any consequential legal bills - may be significant, too. Hence, surely, it’s unjust that the driver who isn’t at fault foots the tab? All one need do is imagine someone colliding with you for this to make any sense.
“Well, I’m a great driver with an all-round great record” may be the screams of the masses. But every time you get behind the wheel, the odds are greatly against you to not have an accident. The countless ways in which accidents happen means the best way in maintaining your perfect clean-sheet is, in fact, to never get behind the wheel.
However, a few thoughts come rushing to mind. Firstly, owning a car in the UK is considered a luxury, with a far superior public transport system you don’t really need a car - here we do! And besides that, the UK is a first-world country with a substantially lower unemployment level. How, as a third-world country, can we expect citizens already struggling each month to fork out extra bucks for compulsory insurance?
Well…Ghana (also a third-world country, who didn’t just show us up in the soccer) seems to be ahead of South Africa with third party insurance too. Every car owner in Ghana is a customer of insurance services because of the stipulating law that finds all driving without insurance punishable by fines, disqualification and even up to one year imprisonment.
A valid decal on the inside of the vehicle’s windscreen is used to illustrate proof of insurance. This simple lamented article allows police to examine the vehicle as it passes through various road blocks. Regrettably, some consumers buy fake insurance decals sold on the streets in an attempt to reduce costs. This practice, although foolish, manages to get motorists past security checks… that’s it! The decals render the driver uninsured should an incident occur, and thus subject to respective penalties if caught.
But at least Ghana is taking strides towards protecting their motorists on the road with compulsory insurance. Nonetheless, and this brings me to my next thought… the key difference between Ghana and South Africa is: we pay an imposed levy on our petrol and diesel to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for what is in essence third party insurance.
This bankrupt establishment is supposed to pay for accident victims’ medical bills after their involvement in an accident. However, this institution has come under fire for a variety of reasons. Some complain it takes up to seven years for genuine claims to be paid out. It’s also estimated that the fund could lose as much as R1 billion a year in fraudulent claims; yet another concern that echoes throughout the country.
The truth is, many people have lost faith in the RAF to sort out legitimate claims quickly and the fraudulent activities haven’t helped to build assurance. Even government is considering making third party insurance obligatory for all, which really isn’t a bad idea, but this should be at the expense of the RAF.
Disband the organisation and make vehicle owners responsible for their own insurance, which can be paid with the money we are saving from the RAF levy. With a huge 65% of the 8.5 million vehicles on South Africa’s roads not insured, insured drivers and insurance companies are often left with the burden of compensation for accidents - which has to change.
The bare fact of the matter is, if you can afford to drive a car, you should be able to afford insurance!
