By Associated Press
A trend in South Africa of people jumping in front of slow-moving cars to get compensation payouts for injuries drew a warning Tuesday from the government’s national Road Accident Fund.
In a statement, it said the phenomenon of people intentionally getting hit near intersections and stop streets was becoming a significant problem, while it acknowledged that some cases might have been driven by poverty and desperation at an expensive time of the year.
“We acknowledge road users may be faced with socioeconomic challenges,” the fund said.
The RAF allows people to claim compensation from a national fund if they are injured in car crashes.
But it warned that it was clamping down on bogus claims after identifying the new trend.
It said people were waiting for vehicles to “slow down enough that they don’t get killed” before throwing themselves in front of or against the cars to fake an accident.
The RAF said that on average more than 1,500 people are killed in road accidents in South Africa during the holiday period between the start of December and Jan. 11. Around 40% of those fatalities are pedestrians, it said.
AP
