23 Feb 2020

Fatality rate due to road accidents per 100 000 population has increased from 17. 6 per cent to 19.9 per cent since 2016.

Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund northern region branch manager Mr Keitumetse Nkala informed the Boteti sub-council session recently that  2 597 people had lost lives from 2014 to date due injuries sustained on road crashes.

Mr Nkala stated that in 2018, a total of 462 people lost lives due to road crashes with 332 of them being males. He said 453 fatalities were recorded in 2019 and 321 of them were males. He said from January 2020 to date 35 people lost lives due to road crashes and 26 of them were males.

He explained that more males got involved in road crashes because of the high number of male drivers than females. Mr Nkala noted that men were by nature risk-takers with regard to speeding and driving without a licence.

Men found themselves in road crashes because they were frequently on roads than females adding that issues of alcohol and substance abuse were more common amongst males than females.

He also indicated that males’ perception of risk was largely informed by their hormones and adrenalin and their egoistic nature.

He stated that road crashes had a serious economic impact on the nation which included loss of life, medical care, damage to property, loss of production and welfare loss.

Claims costs, he said had been increasing over the last three years which threatened the financial sustainability of MVA fund. 

Mr Nkala stated that claims provision increased from P142.5 million in 2017 to P176.6 million in 2018, with the major cause being human behaviour or attitude on the road and vehicle safety aspects.

The high-risk factors on road user behaviour, he said were over speeding, fatigue, drunk-driving, seatbelt and distracted driving amongst others.

He said benefits offered by the fund, included loss of income, loss of support by dependents, medical expenses, funeral expenses, caregiver, incidental expenses including accommodation, transport and subsistence costs among others. He added that visitors would be paid medical expenses whilst in the country.

Mr Nkala stated that total maximum claimable amount per injured person was P1 million and the negligent party’s claim was limited to P300 000.

He indicated that a drunken driver’s loss of earnings was reduced by 50 per cent if blood alcoholic level exceeded the prescribed limit.

Loss of income of a passenger who was aware of the driver’s drunken state he said was reduced by 50 per cent while the loss of earnings would be reduced by 25 per cent if a seatbelt was not used, or if not seated on a proper seat or not wearing a helmet on a motorbike.

He also stated that loss of earnings would be reduced by 50 per cent for a driver of unlawfully possessed or used motor vehicle as well as the use of a defective vehicle, irrespective of whether such unlawful acts contributed to the accident.

Exclusion on claim include unidentified vehicle where the claimant failed to provide proof involving physical evidence of a collision between the identified vehicle and the injured party or deceased as well as the vehicle in which either was travelling on at the time of the accident.

He said the Worker’s Compensation act required an employer to pay compensation to any employee who was incapacitated through a work-related injury or occupational disease. Ends