Chilean highway concessionaires under pressure over carjackings

Chilean highway concessionaires are facing pressure due to concerns over carjackings, which have led to demands that operators should do more to ensure drivers’ safety or even compensate them for their losses.

A group of legislators presented a bill that would force concessionaries to pay compensation to users in case they are victims of a crime or an accident.

It would also force highway operators to acquire insurance to cover damage to third parties.

Concessionaires association Copsa is opposed to the measure because of its potential effects on contract costs and for putting accidents and violent crime in the same group.

“It would be a substantial modification to concession contracts and their economic balance; therefore, the costs derived from its application could end up being an additional load for the State, which is the owner of the infrastructure under concession,” Copsa told BNamericas via email.

The organization added the insurance policies mentioned in the bill are “non-existent.”

It also said that only 30% of the crimes targeted in the bill occur on highway concessions. 

“But the most concerning part of the text is that it denaturalizes the anti-social aspect of the felony, turning into a dispute between private agents,” Copsa said.

Concessionaires have already announced 1bn pesos (US$1.1mn) in investments to increase security in response to concerns over carjackings.