Crazy ‘new phenomenon’ as pedestrians try to get hit by car to claim insurance

The 2022 festive season road traffic statistics saw an increase in the deaths of pedestrians by 10% compared to the previous year.

On Tuesday, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula presented the statistics in a media briefing, where he revealed that more than 1 400 road fatalities recorded across the country during the festive season from 1 December 2022 and 11 January.

Pedestrians

Pedestrian deaths accounted 40% of the total fatalities which, Mbalula said remained “a major source of concern”.

“Simply put out of every 100 road crash fatalities, 41 are pedestrians. In Gauteng and Western Cape, pedestrian fatalities constitute 54% of all fatalities, implying that for every 100 people that died from a road crash, 54 were pedestrians,” the minister said.

Later in the briefing, Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) CEO Makhosini Msibi said there was a “new phenomenon” of pedestrians in Gauteng jumping into the path of a moving vehicle in order to claim insurance money for their injuries.

ALSO READ: 1 400 festive season road deaths – Gauteng only province to show increase in fatalities

“What was remarkable was an issue of the increase [in pedestrian deaths]… people crossing from the informal settlements to the other side.

“There’s a further element that we cannot discount. In Gauteng, there is a new phenomenon where people on their own – enter the road for vehicle to bump them with the hope of claiming from the insurance fund,” Msibi said.

“It’s a phenomenon that’s growing in Gauteng [areas such as] East Rand, Sedibeng, Soweto and Sandton. If you look at the patterns of the pedestrians that were hit during the festive season, it attests to the study we have done.”

According to Mbalula, road crashes place a huge financial burden of over R188 billion on the economy per year.

He previously indicated that claims against the RAF could increase to R518.7 billion in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Speeding

Regarding traffic violations, Mbalula said a significant number of vehicles on the roads were driving with fraudulent license discs.

He pointed out that 25 244 unlicensed vehicle offences were recorded.

“This corruption translated to a revenue loss for the Gauteng government of R1.2 billion in the last financial year.”

The minister also said speeding infringements remained high, with 32 110 incidents recorded.

On 22 December 2022, a VW Golf 7 driver was arrested after travelling at 238km/h on the N1 in Wierdabrug in Gauteng, while a Subaru driver was arrested after driving at 233km/h on the N4 in Bronkhorstspruit earlier this year.

READ MORE: Decrease in road crashes and fatalities during the festive season in KZN

Both drivers were released on R1 000 and R1 200 bail respectively.

In addition, Mbalula said, 1 600 people were arrested for warrants executed, 1 094 operating licences, while 947 drunk driving cases were opened.

He added that the “drunkard of the century” was arrested on 3 January 2023, with an alcohol level of 3.99mg/1 000ml.

“This is 16.6 times above the limit and cannot be unacceptable by any measure.”

The minister said efforts to deploy visible policing at hazardous locations would continue to be a priority, especially during high accident times.