The claimant applied for accident benefits after he was assaulted while working an Uber driver on March 24, 2019. After he had picked up four passengers, multiple assailants surrounded his vehicle and attempted to remove a female passenger from the rear passenger seats. One assailant allegedly punched the claimant’s face and pulled and twisted his left hand in an attempt to remove him from the vehicle. At least six other assailants surrounded the claimant’s vehicle and broke the driver’s door and window, the rear driver’s window, the back windshield, the side mirrors, and the rear camera. The claimant argued that he had been involved in an “accident” as defined by the SABS and was entitled to benefits for physical and psychological therapy. Adjudicator Kepman held that the claimant had not been involved in an “accident”. She accepted that the incident involved the use or operation of a vehicle, as the claimant was picking up passengers as part of his role as an Uber driver. Adjudicator Kepman agreed that the claimant would not have had his arm twisted and injured “but for” the use of his vehicle as a seated and belted driver. Finally, she acknowledged that the assault did not constitute an intervening act that broke the chain of causation because the assault had occurred simultaneously while the claimant continued to operate his vehicle. However, Adjudicator Kepman found that the claimant had not demonstrated that the use or operation of his vehicle was the dominant feature of the incident. Rather, she found that his injuries had been caused by the assault and dismissed his application.
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