Drunk and negligent drivers could be paid out along with victims under new accident claims laws
Legal experts warn that the new Road Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS) will be a disaster for South African road users, and will greatly reduce the compensation provided to road accident victims and their dependents.
The Bill, which is currently before parliament, proposes a ‘no fault’ replacement of the current Road Accident Fund (RAF) as a means of reducing costs and standardising payouts.
According to Kirstie Haslam, partner at DSC Attorneys, the RAF currently compensates road accident victims who’ve been seriously injured due to accidents that they weren’t fully responsible for.
In contrast, the RABS is intended to be a “no-fault” system, providing compensation to all individuals seriously injured in road accidents, regardless of whether those individuals were responsible for the accidents or not.
She says that this will result in drunk and negligent drivers who cause death or serious injury of other motorists, passengers, cyclists or pedestrians receiving benefits at the expense of the truly innocent accident victims (who will receive significantly reduced benefits, if any at all).
It will also further prejudice lower income groups, due to the intricate and cumbersome administrative procedures required to make a claim, she said.
“People with means will still be able to approach and afford legal representation to assist them with this, those who are poor or without means will be unable to afford such assistance and will literally be at the mercy of the system with RABS administrators acting as judge, jury and executioner,” she said.
“It will be a genuine case of David versus Goliath in dealing with the bureaucracy of RABS single-handedly, and in many instances the onus will be on the victim to take certain steps timeously, without the benefit of legal representation.
“Clearly the emphasis should shift to better enforcement of traffic laws etc. and other measures like the new driver demerit system, to reduce the number of accidents and injuries/fatalities,” she said.
In response to concerns about the Bill, the Law Society of the Northern Provinces have established an entire website warning about the dangers of the new legislation. You can read more here.
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