SAIA adds driver behaviour to crime prevention focus

Gareth Stokes, FAnews Online Editor

“We are proud to say that motor theft has reduced since 2002 by around 50% [measured as instances per 1 000 vehicles], and is therefore no longer the primary cause of concern for insurers,” said Ronnie Napier, chairman of the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) Board. He was quick to add that levels of motor vehicle hi-jacking – and crime in general – remained unacceptably high. Napier was speaking on the occasion of the insurance body’s eighth annual donation to Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA). He handed a cheque in the amount of R1.535m to Siphiwe Nzimande, chief executive of BACSA, at a function in Illovo last week.

Napier said SAIA members were faced with the untenable situation where motor accidents now accounted for approximately 70% of all short-term motor claims. The reasons for this shift include the increased cost of spares, the age of South Africa’s motor vehicle population, the lack of compulsory roadworthy testing and the generally poor attitude towards road safety of the country’s drivers. To make matters worse, the more than 9.5m vehicles on the country’s roads place the crumbling road infrastructure under severe pressure.

Global road traffic deaths trending higher

Road accidents claim around 13 000 lives in South Africa each year, costing the country in the region of R38bn. And it’s a global trend. The World Health Organisation says road deaths will be the third leading cause of death (worldwide) by 2020. These deaths can be avoided. Napier mentioned the Arrive Alive statistic which estimates that “90% of road accidents are preceded by a road traffic offence!” That’s why “addressing road safety issues is now an imperative for the SAIA Board,” said Napier. The body announced it would support a driver education initiative in addition to its existing crime prevention programme this year.

The bulk of SAIA’s annual donation (R1.035m) would go to BACSA to enable the organisation to continue its Violent and Organised Crime Initiative. The balance (R500 000) is dedicated to a road safety initiative joint venture between BACSA and the Johannesburg Metro Police.

An example of success – operation Sea Biscuit

Barry Scott, chief executive of SAIA, pointed to the front page of The Star newspaper, 14 May 2009, as an example of recent successes in the ongoing struggle against vehicle crime. Reporters Shaun Smillie and Anna Cox detailed the latest arrests made through Operation Sea Biscuit. Eight licensing officials were arrested for allegedly “providing false registration documents for stolen vehicles.” The Star says the crime fighting operation has seized more than 721 vehicles (valued at R83m) and made 55 arrests in the last year. Although the operation involved a joint investigation between the Johannesburg Metro Police and the SAPS, BACSA says it was involved in ‘behind the scenes’ activities to make the arrests possible.

“What these officials were doing was legalising stolen vehicles back through the eNaTIS system,” says Scott. He says this confirms that criminal syndicates still have the means to re-integrate stolen vehicles into the general vehicle population. The re-registration of a stolen or hi-jacked vehicle is one of the most profitable ways for criminal syndicates to ‘dispose’ of their bounty. SAPS Superintendent Louwrens Liebenberg confirmed this to The Star. He said the most “lucrative option was to register the car into the eNaTIS system as a used car.”

Vehicle owners with stolen and recovered vehicles may also not be placed into the “same position” as what they were prior to the loss if the engine and /or chassis number of the vehicles have been tampered with or indeed if the registration certificate is altered to reflect “stolen and recovered”. But this is an issue that we will delve into and keep you posted.

Clearly there’s still a long way to go in the fight against motor crime. But the bigger battle is going to be to get South African drivers to obey road traffic laws to reduce the unnecessary burden caused by road traffic accidents. SAIA deserves credit for applying its members’ funds to each of these areas.

Editor’s thoughts:
Although vehicle crime remains a concern it looks like insurers will have to shift their attention to driver behaviour if they want to bring soaring motor vehicle claims in check. Would you welcome an initiative to link driver training to lower insurance premiums? Add your comments below, or send them to gareth@fanews.co.za