More than $ 15 million paid for traffic accidents
Ecuadornews:

Much has been talked about in the last few days of traffic accidents and the number of deaths and injuries that have left them and the drama that many families go through because they do not have the means to pay for funeral expenses or for the healing of their relatives.
The Law of Transit and Land Transportation establishes the obligation of the State to cover these contingencies through the Public System for the payment of Traffic Accidents (Sppat) that replaces the Mandatory Traffic Accident Insurance (SOAT).
The Sppat is paid for by all motor vehicles, without restriction of any kind, whether public or private. The item is included as a rate in the value of the registration of the vehicle. Since January 2015, the Sppat covers any traffic accident. Protection is maintained in all public and private health houses.
The system covers: $ 5,000 per death; disability up to $ 5,000; medical expenses up to $ 3,000; Funeral expenses 400 dollars and mobilization of victims 200 dollars. In this sense, due to traffic accidents, the System has paid 15,204,381.15 dollars so far this year.
According to the figures of the National Traffic Agency (ANT), from January to August there have been 2,119 accidents nationwide, which have caused 1,433 deaths and 12,890 injured.
However, a large percentage of the population does not know about this right, and does not proceed to claim the money that corresponds to it.
EXPRESO consulted several citizens about it. Carlos Torres, owner of a truck, said that every year he enrolls the car he makes the payment but never “has had the neatness” to ask how and for what the Sppat is. He even said that two years ago a relative suffered a traffic accident and had to be hospitalized and the family was running the costs in a private clinic.
A similar criterion has María Rosa Salgado. She did not even know that the Public System existed for the payment of Traffic Accidents. “What is that and what is it for?” She asked. The citizen considers that information is needed to know how to act and who to turn to in the event of a traffic accident.
Marco, who runs a motorcycle and is a fast-food delivery man, said the Sppat helped him a lot a year ago when he was run over by a bus that passed the traffic light. “With the Sppat I was able to cover the medical expenses for the injuries I suffered after the accident; However, I believe that there is a lack of information, even in my company there were colleagues who do not know they could claim this service, “he said.
But there are also sectors of civil society that help victims of accidents. One of them is the Foundation of Support to Victims of Traffic Accidents (Cavat) ‘Nicole Paredes’. Although the work of the Foundation is to work on prevention with road safety education, they also collaborate with the victims of the deaths and relatives of the deceased.
Soraya Herrera, director of Cavat, in an interview in a radio media acknowledged that there is a lack of knowledge of people about the application of the Public Accident System. “A person who suffered a traffic accident arrived at my office, this person was paralyzed and does not even know that he can charge a premium of $ 3,000 for disability,” said Herrera.
A pact still without results
More than a year has passed since the Government, transporters and civil society signed the Pact for Road Safety. Among the objectives of the agreement was to establish mechanisms that reduce the accident rates in the country. However, the results of this pact have been questioned by the recent accidents of public transport cooperatives that have caused almost a hundred deaths.
Sectors such as Fundación Cavat and Justicia Vial have criticized the lack of compliance with several of the short, medium and long term goals that were given during the dialogues.
The last accidents determined that two weeks ago the now exdirector of the National Traffic Agency (ANT), Pablo Calle, announced ten immediate actions to solve this problem. This change also worries the organizations, since they do not know if there will be changes in the proposals and established goals. (I)