FRSC supports N1m pay for accident victims
The Federal Road
Safety Corporation and road transport unions, yesterday, supported a
new law that will guarantee a mandatory compensation of N1m to families
of people who die in road crashes.
According to the
bill under debate by the lawmakers, commuters travelling by commercial
vehicles, who are injured, permanently incapacitated, or get killed
will be entitled to N1million in insurance compensations. The current
package for the three categories of casualties range from N5, 000 to
N50, 000 only, and the amounts are often left unclaimed, according to
lawmakers who spoke at the public hearing for the bill yesterday. The
new rates, when operational, will target the victims of fatal road
crashes in the country. Between 2006 and 2008 for instance, FRSC
figures say 29,000 road accidents resulted in the death of 16,278
persons; with only five states – Ogun, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and the
Federal Capital Territory – responsible for about 42% of the total.
The criticisms
Insurance experts
however expressed fear that the new figure will lead to a rise in
already hiked transport fares around the country. “The bill is
unnecessary, because its real intent has been taken care of by the
Insurance Act of 2003, motor vehicle and third party Act,” said Talmisi
Usman, who represented the National Insurance Commission of Nigeria at
a public hearing organized by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
One of the insurance experts, Thomas Olundare, also attacked the
proposed compensation margin as being “too high” and certain to have a
multiplier effect on the cost of goods and services. But the FRSC, the
National Union of Road Transport Workers, the Road Transport Employers
Association of Nigeria, and the Road Accident Prevention Society of
Nigeria, welcomed the provisions of the proposed bill, and hoped it
will help reduce the pains of victims of such crashes. The Corps
Marshal of the FRSC, Osita Chidoka, said the bill was ‘timely.” He,
however, said insurance companies could be made to award separate
claims based on the degree of casualty.
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