Debate rages over compensation in road death cases

Dec 20, 2018 News

The payment of monies to settle cases involving road deaths does not necessarily mean that the state will agree to drop the case.
According to the Chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), when private settlements are reached between parties, they do not concern the Chambers.
Rather, the “DPP is concerned with the criminal offence of causing death by dangerous driving,” an official from the office said on Monday.
The trend of settlements being made reared its head again recently when a Chinese owner of an East Coast Demerara supermarket was implicated in a hit-and-run accident last week. Karcchan Khemraj, 15 years old was killed, while 16-year-old Reaz Shaw remains hospitalized.
The family of the dead teen was offered $1.9M to settle the case.
In the meantime, it is alleged that the owner or driver of the minibus involved in the accident at Annandale, after stashing the vehicle, has disappeared.
According to legal officials, the settlements, while a good thing for some lawyers, have implications for other cases involving death.
“Maybe you have someone who is killed during a fight whose family is being offered monies. Or you have a bandit killing a businessman and whose family will offer compensation. It could send a signal that there is precedence for a settlement in a death. Maybe it is not yet tested but there is a situation here brewing,” one lawyer said.
Lawyers generally don’t want to discuss the issue of settlements as it means immediate closure and their cut.
Many families of road accident victims have opted to collect cash to settle the matter and not pursue the court case.
However, it appears that even when settlements are made out of court, the state still has the obligation to pursue to the ends.
There has been quite a number of cases that went nowhere because of settlements.
In January 2016, Pastor Winston Cramer was ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for the death of a pedal cyclist. He was also ordered to compensate the mother of the victim’s minor child to the tune of $500,000.
In 2010, Kaieteur News had reported on the practice.
A three-month investigation unearthed a disturbing trend in which drivers from affluent families are forking out millions—and in some cases a mere pittance—to avoid being hauled off to jail for killing innocent children on the country’s roadways.
Kaieteur News had unearthed at least seven such cases, prior to 2010.
In the court cases uncovered, six of the victims were children between the ages of seven and 17 years old. A seventh case involved a young mother.
All the families, except one, admitted to having accepted money from the families of the errant drivers.
The ‘compensation packages’ range from $5M for the death of the young mother, $600,000 for the death of an eight-year-old girl, and $300,000 for a seven-year-old girl killed on a pedestrian crossing.
The accused drivers were all before the courts on causing death by dangerous driving charges. The matters were immediately dropped after the payments were made. Two of the accused were hit-and run drivers. Two were allegedly under the influence of alcohol.

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