The driver should pay for the crushed sheet metal and injured people if he causes an accident when exceeding the permitted speed in a populated area by more than 50 km/h. This is one of the proposals of the Association of Bulgarian Insurers, made in accordance with the changes introduced by the Council of Ministers to the Parliament in the Insurance Code, writes “Trud”.
Cars must have third party liability insurance, which covers the risk of the driver causing damage to property or injuring people. Insurance is mandatory to ensure that victims will receive compensation. Currently, the Insurance Code allows insurance companies, after paying the “Civil Liability” benefits, to seek this money from the guilty driver, if he caused the accident after consuming alcohol with a concentration in the blood above the legally permissible norm or under the influence of a narcotic substance or its counterpart.
With changes in the Insurance Code, the industry wants to expand the cases in which, after paying under “Civil Liability”, they can claim the money from the guilty driver. The proposal is for drivers to pay for compensation for damaged property and injured people if the accident occurred after exceeding the permitted speed in a built-up area by more than 50 km/h, if the accident occurred after passing a red signal at a traffic light, or on a pedestrian crossing .
The reason for the request of the insurance industry is changes in the Penal Code from the fall of last year, which introduced criminal liability and the possibility of confiscating the vehicle if a person was seriously injured under these circumstances on the road. Committing a crime when driving in a populated area at a speed of more than 50 km/h over the limit and when running a red light could be equated to gross negligence, even possible intent, so these circumstances should become grounds for the insurer to seek the money to pay out of compensation from the guilty driver, the Association of Bulgarian Insurers indicates.
According to road safety experts, the situation of hitting a pedestrian crossing is different from an accident when exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h, because an accident on a pedestrian crossing can also be due to an unreasonable crossing of a pedestrian because the street is too dark or due to other factors for which the driver is not at fault. While the speed of movement is entirely a decision of the car driver himself.
If the parliament accepts the proposal that the driver should pay for the damages caused when the driver exceeds the speed limit or when running a red light, the change will have a disciplinary effect on the drivers, according to the ABZ. For these drivers, there will be additional consequences of their behavior, which is of a particularly high degree of public danger, adds the Association of Bulgarian Insurers.
The insurance industry also suggests that the concluded insurance policies should be terminated if the car is confiscated. If, during the validity of the insurance contract, the insured property (car) is confiscated in accordance with the Criminal Code, the insurance should be terminated immediately and automatically, by virtue of the judgment by which the sanction for confiscation of the relevant property was imposed, the insurers suggest.
#Civil #insurer #pay
