Abstract

The compensation of motor accident victims which is meant to address the financial rights and need of those injured is faced with a lot of challenges and hurdles in Cameroon. This system is based on automatic compensation linked to direct insurance of risk created by road accident. However does not guarantee compensation.

The fact that such action go through lengthy administrative procedures, alongside costly legal fee for the assessment of damages, has made most claimants disappointed. The methodology used in this research is the qualitative methodology. This is a research methodology that employs qualitative standards or techniques and its findings are not arrived at by any statistical procedure.

This research will be based on the means of protecting road accident victims analyzing their chances of compensation under the CIMA code as well as possible ways to prevent road accidents thereby reducing the catastrophes of road accidents and to also reduce the plight of it victims. However, Cameroon practices the no fault liability system, meaning insurance companies should compensate accident victims regardless of fault. Insurance companies must establish that the drivers of the vehicle did not voluntarily cause the accident prior to compensation.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background To The Study

Road accident is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. In Cameroon, like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, more data on motor accident patterns and outcome are needed to improve treatment and compensation of motor accident victims. In 2014, the Health World day was celebrated under the theme:” road accidents are not destined by fate”. That same year, the World Civil Protection day was celebrated under the theme: “Civil Protection Road Safety”.

This seemed just right occasion to launch a comprehensive campaign against road accidents. The pace was sat through an open letter signed by four, members of government to wage a fierce war against this calamity which is becoming so frequent in our roads. At the time, two ghastly road accidents had occurred at Ebombe and Nkombiban II and had left an indelible mark in the minds of Cameroonians.  Thence, the government took new measures, if not, to eradicate, at least to reduce the frequency of these accidents that result in heavy material, human and economic losses. In effect, the roads of Cameroon are known to be very deadly.

The number of road traffic injury in Cameroon has steadily increased each year. According to police data, 990 fatal and 2471 non-fatal road injuries were reported in 2007. The WHO estimated that the majority of road traffic injury fatalities occur among passengers in four-wheel vehicles (40%), while the smallest proportion occurs among pedestrians (10%).

Road injuries have gradually become a major health problem worldwide.  More than a million people die each year on the world’s roads and according to current estimates, road traffic injuries will become the fifth contributor of disease in 2030.  Low and middle income countries carry over 90% of the global burden of traffic related injuries with substantial socio-economic consequences, particularly in rural areas. The risk of dying as a result of road accident highest in Africa, and the roads of Cameroon in particular have been reported to be among the most dangerous in the world.

Historically, there have been many laws put in place to ensure the protection of motor accident victims. Such laws include; the French Code Civil, the Fatal Accidents Acts of 1864-1846 and the 1989 Ordinance on the compensation of motor accident victims

To enable the motor accident victims to be able to receive compensation, Law No. 2015/013 was promulgated by the Cameroonian legislature. The reason for instituting the new law on compensation was to overcome the challenges presented by former laws on compensation that existed in Cameroon before 1992.

An example of such challenges was that there was the award of extremely high damages against insurance companies. Also, there were too many powers given to the judges on interpretation of insurance statutes and decision making on insurance issues. The new law on compensation, which is the CIMA Code has succeeded to an extent to overcome these antipodal hurdles.

Compensation as instituted by the code has as one of its basic tenets the fact that once there is an accident caused by a motor vehicle that causes corporal damage, there must be compensation. Therefore, in a bid to guarantee the validity of this tenet, the code made express provision for creation of motor insurance Guarantee Fund in every CIMA member state.

It is thanks to this provision that Law No. 2015/013 was promulgated by Cameroonian legislature on 6th July 2015. Creating and regulating the Motor vehicle insurance Guarantee Fund. The appraisal of this law shall be the primary focus of the chapter two of this present research.

Patents and characteristics of injuries vary amongst countries. In low-income countries, it has been suggested that the poor implementation of traffic safety measures result in specific crash characteristics and injury pattern with a higher exposure of some road users such as pedestrians and motorize two-wheelers which are traditionally considered as vulnerable.  Some of the few available reports in Central and Western Africa describe a specific pattern of injuries for these vulnerable road users.

Reports on the pattern and severity of road accidents are however scarce in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular those comparing various road user categories.  It is also one of the rare reporting a cohort of more than 800 road traffic injury victims.

Majority of road injuries victims in the urban setting in Cameroon are young people employed or self-employed males often using a motorcycle, most probably as a means to earn a living.  Injuries occur most often as a result of collision between a motorcycle and other road users, often resulting to severe injuries. However, most injuries sustain in the Douala roads result in minor injuries involving the skin and soft tissues, though a significant proportion of patients sustain a fracture involving the lower limb in the majority of cases.

It is well known that the trend of traffic related injuries in low and middle-income countries is on the rise. In Napal, a community based analysis indicated a two-fold increase of traffic related injuries over a decade. This is in contrast with significant reductions recorded in other settings following the implementation of preventive measure and a formal trauma management system  indicating insufficient or poorly implementation of such measures in these areas of the world.

Over the past decades, the crash characteristics in sub-Saharan Africa and other low-income countries like Cameroon have been deeply multiplied by the popularization of motorized two-wheelers as a mode of transportation. In the absence of restrictive measures such as redesigning of roads to reduce their contact and with other road users, they often collide with tourists cars with a direct impact on the nature and severity of injuries.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

The worrying picture presented by road accident in Africa as a whole and Cameroon in particular is too alarming and this possess a problem to this research. Despite the measures put in place by the government of Cameroon to ensure at least a reduction of road accidents in Cameroon, we still record numerous road accidents each day in the nation of Cameroon.

This poses a problem which this research is out to address. The compensation of motor accident victims which is meant to address the financial rights and needs of those injured is faced with a lot of challenges and hurdles in Cameroon. This system is based on automatic compensation linked to a direct insurance of risks created by road accidents.

This however still does not guarantee a befitting and timely compensation. The fact that such actions still have to go through lengthy administrative and legal procedures, alongside costly legal fee for the assessment of damages, has made most claimants disappointed. Such concern over the system of compensation calls for a thorough address and redress of the issue.

To this end, the current research is being carried out to bring out better proposals to address the financial rights and needs of motor accident victims. While it is well established that the emergency care for road accident victims is a major contributor to the success of policies in the fight against injuries,  current actions to reduce this burden tend to be centered on preventive measures. This also becomes a problem that this current work is set out to address.

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 Main Research Question

The main research question in this work is how can road accidents be prevented and the victims thereof be protected. To address the problems raised in this work, the following questions shall be considered:

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

1. What are the causes of motor accidents in Cameroon?
2. What measures have been put in place to protect accident victims in Cameroon?
3. What are the challenges regarding the Compensation of motor accident victims in Cameroon?
4. What policy recommendations can be made in order to solve the problem raised?

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