Who is going to compensate victims of road accidents by uninsured drivers? (Part 2)
By Daniel Machar Dhieu, Juba, South Sudan
Road accidents are majorly known for death and disability to the people. For instance we had experienced many accidents in our country including Monday 29th September 2014 the most dangerous accident caused by Bakulu bus that claimed lived of over 50 people according to South Sudan television majorly known SSTV. Those who lost their lives through this bus are not guilty of their own but they were victimized by untimely accident that force them to lost and also force us to miss them until no hope to meet them again.
The reason of taking pen on this dangerous matter is only to wake-up insurance companies especially the concerned insurance company for Bakulu to have a victim fund monitoring department in-order to compensate the families of deceased that lost their beloved, because these people were not victim of themselves. There is a big concern both the families and the government at large.
I know many people would like to understand the concept of a victim fund. Basically, a victim fund provides a modality of compensation for victims of crimes who have no other means of recovery. Funds reimburse a wide variety of expenses that are related to a criminal injury. They cover not only medical costs, but also expenses for counseling, housekeeping, funerals and even crime scene cleanup, and they will kick in for lost wages.
The majority of these funds are set up and administrated on a state level, but all benefit from the resources of the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Funding comes from fines and penalties that are label against criminals or traffic offenders.
The list of covered crimes is extensive. Victims of rape, child molestation, drunken driving and hit-and-run accidents all qualify for funds, as do family members of those murdered. A few funds cover any car accident where damages are not covered by any other means.
In South Sudan crimes activities are not monitor properly because of little knowledge people have in the field. This has make rate of crimes increase throughout the year. However, there are a number of requirements that must be met before you can file a claim. These vary by state, but there are some common elements as constitution is concern.
In normal procedure, you must be the victim of a violent crime, or the family or dependent of a deceased victim, in the state you are filing for victims compensation. Most states require a victim to report the crime within 72 hours, and the claimant must fully comply with the police and prosecutors. Victims are required to file a claim within a certain amount of time. However, the insure here will not comply with that ideology as sometime the process would be judge by the case itself.
For example, Bakulu accident that took place on Monday 29th September 2014 that killed 56 people would likely be different from above process or procedure. Those victims who lost their lives may not face the prosecutor in present but the concern families may claims on their part at least to received compensation from the insurance company. If eligible, the application process is fairly straightforward. Applications are available can be well presented to the proper department. The claim will then be investigated and if further information is required the claim investigator will contact you. Victim funds are absolutely a payer of last resort.
The writer is not interesting in a victim fund policy; I have no interest at all on this compensation. My view is base on charity heart for remarks and remembering of those who lost their lives and already left their families alarming many challenges. I would like to awake all the readers to understand and make crucial analyses on this compensation that would be paid to third party by the first and second party.
Accidents are mainly affecting our daily lives and I always blame the drivers for always making us lost our relatives, friends and all other humans living in the country. I’m requesting traffic authority to verify the entire drivers permit and also track out their age plus their status.
Therefore, I would like to inform traffic authority to acknowledge all the drivers and make sure they learned traffic norms and signs. Traffic authority has right to directs all drivers to drive on normal speech and mandate them not to drive while drinking and avoid using phone while driving by fulfilling these instructions the rate of accident will be reduce.
The writer is the student at South Sudan Christian University Juba, Gudele. You can contact me on machardieu@gmail.com or 0956408640
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