Thrown egg not Road Accident Fund’s responsibility

THE notion of “egg on the face” took a new meaning for a Pretoria North woman when she lost her claim against the Road Accident Fund.

Maria van Wyk was hit by an egg in the face, thrown at her from a passing car. She then lodged a claim for damages from the Road Accident Fund. But the high court turned this down.

Judge JA Motepe of the Pretoria High Court said the incident was not sufficiently linked to the driving of a motor vehicle. It was thus simply not possible to hold the fund liable for this. In terms of the Road Accident Fund Act, the fund is liable for damages only when bodily injury is due to the negligence or wrongful act of a driver or owner of a vehicle.

Van Wyk claimed the damages (the amount was not stated in the judgment) on the basis that either the insured driver or a passenger threw an egg at her.

She testified that she was walking home from work on the afternoon of October 3, 2014 when the incident happened.

She was on the pavement in Pagel Street when a car stopped near her at a stop sign. An egg was thrown at her and it hit her in the face.

Laughed

She recalled that as the car was driving off, men inside mockingly laughed at her. She could not identify the car, apart from saying it was light in colour, nor did she know how many people were inside.

Van Wyk said she suffered serious injuries to her left eye and her cornea and lens were damaged. She conceded that the driver of the vehicle did not break any traffic rules.

The car was also not on the pavement when the incident happened. According to Van Wyk the occupants, however, undoubtedly wanted to hit her, as they had a good laugh after they succeeded in doing so.

Van Wyk said she initially did not think of suing the Road Accident Fund because she always believed the fund could only be sued for motor accidents, but a family member told her to take a chance.

When asked by the fund’s lawyer why she felt the fund was responsible for her damages, she said because she was a pedestrian using the pavement and was hit by an egg coming from a passing car.

She felt the driver was responsible, as he did not stop the car after he saw that she was injured.

The judge said the driver in this case obeyed the rules of the road and did not swerve to allow the egg to be thrown at her

He could not find the driver to be negligent for not stopping after the egg was thrown.