What a taxi passenger should do after an accident

How to use this guide

Do not wait for the entire file to be complete before checking legal time limits. At the same time, do not submit guessed information merely to appear fast. Record what is known, mark gaps and obtain help where injury, identity, fault, authority or timing is uncertain.

Step 1: deal with safety and medical care

Move away from immediate danger if you can do so safely and follow emergency instructions. Seek medical assessment for injuries or symptoms, including those that develop after the initial shock. Give clinicians an accurate account of the accident and prior relevant conditions.

Keep the ambulance, facility and practitioner details. Ask how to obtain your lawful clinical records, discharge information and accounts. Follow treatment instructions or record why an appointment could not be attended.

The legal file should never be built at the expense of urgent care. A trusted person can help preserve contact details and documents while the passenger is receiving treatment.

Step 2: report and identify the collision

Obtain the SAPS or traffic reference and record where and when the report was made. Capture the taxi registration, route or operator information, driver details and other vehicles where available. Record that you were a passenger and where you were seated.

If an important detail is unknown, note the source that may hold it: another passenger, police station, hospital, taxi operator, tow service, nearby business or vehicle owner. Do not assume that a verbal assurance means the detail was formally recorded.

Keep the names and contact details of witnesses in their original form. A witness should give their own account; avoid circulating a shared version that may blur independent recollection.

Step 3: freeze the earliest evidence

Preserve original photographs, video, voice notes, messages, location records, payment proof and treatment documents. Make copies for use, but retain an unchanged original. Record who created or supplied each item and when it entered the file.

A short chronology should distinguish direct knowledge from information supplied by someone else. Use exact dates where known and label approximations. Add later facts as new entries instead of rewriting the original account.

Evidence preservation is a separate task from building the eventual claim-document pack. It protects the factual foundation before forms, legal arguments or loss calculations are finalised.

Step 4: identify the possible claim route

The Road Accident Fund Act concerns compensation for qualifying loss or damage caused by bodily injury or death arising from the driving of a motor vehicle, subject to the statutory requirements and exclusions. Being a passenger does not by itself decide the claim. The accident circumstances, negligence, injury, claimant identity and applicable statutory rules still require assessment.

Treat passenger status and driver fault as separate evidence questions. Journey records and witnesses may show that the claimant was in the taxi, while scene and vehicle evidence may be needed to assess negligent driving and causal responsibility. Do not assume that either the taxi driver or the other driver must carry all responsibility merely from the passenger's position in the vehicle.

Ask these classification questions early:

• Was another driver or vehicle involved, and are the driver and owner identified?
• What bodily injury was diagnosed or is still being investigated?
• Is the passenger an adult, minor, deceased person or person needing assistance?
• Is there potential income, support, medical or other compensable loss?
• Has any claim, notice, mandate or settlement already been signed?
• Is there uncertainty about the accident date, reporting or prescription?

Do not answer a legal eligibility question from a checklist alone. Use the answers to identify what information and specialist review are required next.

Step 5: check the current RAF material

Use the Road Accident Fund’s current claim-information and form pages. The available RAF 1 form asks for claimant, representative, accident, vehicle, injury, medical and loss information, and it contains declarations and consent provisions. Read the complete current form before arranging signatures.

Confirm which version applies, which supporting reports are required, who must complete each section and how the submission must be delivered. An old downloaded form or a third-party checklist may omit a current field or instruction.

Keep a full copy of the completed submission and its attachments. A list saying “RAF forms sent” is too vague; record the form name, version, date, delivery method, recipient and proof of receipt.

Step 6: check time limits without guessing

The Road Accident Fund Act contains claim-prescription and procedural provisions, and different facts can affect the analysis. For an ordinary adult claim where either the driver or owner is identified, section 23 commonly starts with a three-year period from the date the cause of action arose. Section 23 also contains protection for a minor and specified legal-disability statuses; after a claim has been lodged, it addresses a five-year period measured from the cause-of-action date and the need to commence proceedings within the applicable period. If neither the driver nor owner is identified, regulation 2 instead uses a two-year lodgement period and, after lodgement, another five-year period measured from the cause-of-action date. Critically, section 23(2)'s protection for minors and specified legal disabilities belongs to the identified-driver-or-owner route, while regulation 2(2) makes the unidentified-vehicle two-year lodgement period apply irrespective of legal disability. These rules are not a universal calculator: vehicle identity, the cause-of-action date, valid lodgement, litigation steps and transitional law may still alter the analysis.

Place the accident date and every later formal date at the front of the file. Ask for a matter-specific calculation when the position is uncertain. Do not rely on a social-media answer, an old article or the date written by an unverified intermediary.

If a deadline may be close, make that the first issue raised with the Fund or a suitable lawyer. Completing less urgent paperwork should not displace a time-sensitive review.

Step 7: organise injury and loss proof

Create separate sections for medical evidence, work or earnings, expenses and daily-function effects. Keep source records rather than only a summary. A passenger who is self-employed should preserve contracts, invoices, tax records and cancelled work evidence; an employee should retain pay, leave and employer records.

List each expense with the date, amount, reason and payment proof. Separate paid expenses from quotations or estimates. Avoid promising a damages amount before the injury, causation and loss evidence has been assessed.

Continue updating the medical chronology while the claim is being considered. A later diagnosis should be added with its date and source, not backdated into the initial account.

Step 8: decide whether to claim directly or obtain representation

A passenger may seek information about a direct claim or speak to a lawyer. The right choice depends on the injury and loss complexity, disputed facts, capacity to manage forms and correspondence, time limits and the terms of any proposed mandate.

Verify a legal practitioner independently and obtain written scope and fee terms before signing. Do not assume that a person at a hospital, taxi rank or accident scene represents the RAF or a regulated law firm.

If representation begins, clarify who will communicate with the Fund, who keeps originals, how updates will be supplied and what authority is needed before settlement.

Step 9: track every request and response

Maintain a correspondence register showing the date, sender, recipient, subject, required response and completion proof. Put a formal request beside the answer so the reviewer can see what was asked and what remains outstanding.

When the RAF, a medical provider or a lawyer asks for more information, confirm the exact item rather than sending the whole archive repeatedly. Use secure channels for identity and health records. Record failed delivery, bounced email or portal problems with screenshots and dates.

Do not treat silence as confirmation that a submission is complete or accepted. Follow up through a verified channel and preserve the response.

Registration, investigation, acceptance of liability, settlement and payment are separate events. A reference number or request for banking records does not prove that every statutory requirement has been met, that a particular loss has been accepted or that payment will occur by a promised date. Record the exact status stated by the RAF and the document that supports it.

A practical first-week sequence

The passenger’s health and facts will control the pace, but the working order is usually:

1. medical care and safe contact arrangements;
2. police or traffic reference and vehicle identification;
3. original evidence preservation and witness contacts;
4. a concise accident and treatment chronology;
5. current RAF information and a time-limit review;
6. requests for missing official, medical and income records; and
7. a decision on direct handling or verified legal representation.

This sequence is a control framework, not a statutory timetable. A serious injury, unknown driver, minor claimant, death or imminent time issue may change what must happen first.

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