Juan Antonio Mazariegos G.
A disastrous series of road accidents has shocked the country and left many Guatemalan families in mourning. During the last 5 months (September 2021 to date), according to a publication in the morning newspaper Prensa Libre, this week, citing the Guatemalan Association of Insurance Institutions (AGIS), there have been more than 200 road accidents, in which have lost lives, caused multiple injuries and caused damage. Deaths and injuries give rise to criminal responsibilities that must be deducted by the competent authorities from those responsible, as well as, together with the damages, give rise to civil responsibilities, the fulfillment of which is usually forgotten and remedial actions for the victims are usually scarce. and very poor.
In accordance with our commercial law, by the insurance contract, the insurer is obliged to compensate the damage or pay a sum of money when the eventuality foreseen in the contract occurs. For its part, Decree 132-96 of the Congress of the Republic, Traffic Law, in its article 29 establishes that every owner of a vehicle authorized to circulate on public roads must have, at a minimum, civil insurance against third parties and occupants. With these foundations, the previous Government issued Government Agreement 17-2020, Regulations for Hiring Compulsory Third-Party Civil Liability Insurance for Urban Collective Passenger and Cargo Transport, the entry into force of which, unfortunately, was extended under the argument of that “the hiring and first payment of the obligatory annual insurance for collective urban transport of passengers and cargo for those who currently carry out said activity, must be made within 18 months, upon the entry into force of this regulation, in the case of transport urban group of passengers or cargo that is processed later, from the date on which they have been authorized to provide service. Which to date has caused the majority of carriers that were authorized to circulate on public roads to omit contracting insurance.
An insurance, of whatever nature, constitutes a protection mechanism for those who are insured or are beneficiaries, or at least a restitution mechanism, when after the catastrophic event that has caused the damage has occurred, the victim or the beneficiary finds, in the insurance, a way to restore what they have lost in the event.
It is evident, in light of the accidents that occur frequently, or in the face of simply accessing traffic on our streets and highways, that there is no road culture in Guatemala. This absence of road culture, cultivated thanks to the absence of road education and the almost non-existence of coercion by the authorities to force compliance, has contributed to the absence of road safety, which constantly causes deaths, injuries and damage to our roads. . The need for mandatory insurance for the transport of people and goods to come into force is clearly evident.
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