Mechanical failures are a leading cause of road accidents in South Africa.
Statistics from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) indicate that 14.1% of car crashes in the country are “associated with the mechanics of the cars involved.”
In its 2021 State of Road Safety report, the organisation concluded that 420 fatal accidents that happened in that year were the result of faulty hardware.
Of these incidents, the five mechanical failures that were most commonly blamed were:
- Faulty brakes
- Worn windscreen wipers
- Defective head- and taillights
- Steering and suspension issues
- Over- or under-inflated tyres, and tyres without sufficient tread
With this in mind, motorists must place special attention on maintaining these parts of their vehicles to ensure that they are not the cause of a crash.
Mechanical faults that cause car crashes. Source: Supa Quick
Who to blame
In the event that you were in a road accident and a mechanical issue was to blame, there are three parties that can be held liable for providing compensation, according to DSC Attorneys.
These are the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), a mechanic or workshop that was responsible for previous repairs and maintenance on the vehicle, or the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
An OEM may only be held liable in the scenario where a specific vehicle model has a known fault, and that fault was the direct cause of the road accident.
“This applies regardless of whether or not a recall has been issued for that vehicle model,” said DSC Attorneys.
A mechanic, or their employer, might then be considered responsible if the person who worked on the car left a part unattached or made a vital error that caused the failure of a component later on.
If none of these apply, the RAF may be approached for compensation, provided the driver of the vehicle in question was the sole cause of the accident.
However, drivers and vehicle owners are responsible for ensuring that their car is properly maintained and in roadworthy condition for their claim against the RAF to be valid.
Certain mechanical failures may be attributed to negligence by vehicle owners; for example, if they fail to replace badly worn tyres despite being aware that neglecting to do so makes the vehicle unsafe.
“If there’s an accident as a result, and somebody other than the one responsible for the vehicle’s maintenance is injured, that injured person may have a claim against the RAF,” said DSC Attorneys.
“If, however, the owner or responsible person/driver was themselves injured, there would be no such claim, as the accident would be due to their own negligence.”
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