Uninsured motorcycles account for the majority of accidents involving vehicles without insurance cover, whose victims are compensated by the Special Guarantee Fund (SGF), according to Infrastructure Minister Ernest Nsabimana. He attributed the low insurance coverage to the issue of high premiums.
Nsabimana said this on Tuesday in parliament while providing explanations about strategies to address challenges identified in preventing road accidents.
The Minister revealed that out of 429 accidents from October 2022 to July 2023, whose related compensations were paid by the SGF from October 2022 to July 2023, there were 391 -- equivalent to 91 per cent -- which were caused by uninsured motorcycles.
The SGF is a government insurance agency mandated to compensate victims of accidents and damages caused by uninsured and non-identified automobiles, as well as wild animals.
The Minister pointed out that the lack of motorcycle insurance, in some cases, results from high insurance costs (premiums). He explained that due to the frequent involvement of motorcycles in accidents, insurance companies increase premiums to offset their expenses on compensating victims.
Commenting on the Minister's statement about the low motorcycle insurance coverage caused by increased insurance premiums due to the higher accident rate of motorcycles, Senator Marie Rose Mureshyankwano questioned whether this approach would effectively solve the accident problem.
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"If you increase insurance premiums because motorcycles are more involved in accidents, you are limiting their [motorcycle owners'] ability to buy insurance because they cannot afford it." Mureshyankwano said.
She also raised concerns about motorcycle owners fleeing the scene of an accident due to lack of insurance coverage, which leads to the SGF having to compensate victims. Mureshyankwano suggested that the government, through the insurance sector regulator (National Bank of Rwanda), should seek a more suitable solution.
"You should rather help them to get relatively affordable insurance cover and look for the solution [to accidents] elsewhere," she added.
Mathias Izaribara, a taxi operator from the City of Kigali told The New Times that in 2019, insurance premiums for a motorcycle manufactured less than five years ago were Rwf65,000 annually, which increased to Rwf150,000 in March 2023, and is now at Rwf180,000.
Izaribara expressed his struggle to pay the high premiums while meeting his basic needs, as the annual premium now amounts to 10 per cent of his motorcycle's value (valued at Rwf1.8 million).
Older motorcycles, aged more than five years since their manufacturing date, have to pay over Rwf200,000 annually, he added.
Minister Nsabimana assured that the Government of Rwanda is actively seeking a solution to this problem through different entities, particularly insurance firms and their regulator. He also emphasized the government's efforts in encouraging vehicle owners to purchase insurance coverage promptly, in collaboration with the Rwanda National Police and other insurance companies.
