Who is responsible for taking a "hitchhiker" home during the Spring Festival if there is an accident? The lawyer's statement came

New Hainan client, Nanhai Net, Nanguo Metropolis Daily reporter Chen Dong

Approaching the Spring Festival, everyone is preparing to return home for the New Year. The crowded Spring Festival peak makes some people choose to take a "hitchhiker" or "rub" the car of friends and fellow villagers to go home. These acts can be seen everywhere in life, but once an accident occurs, resulting in casualties, how to delineate responsibility? In the face of the risks brought about by "good intentions", many people feel very aggrieved about this, and feel that the owner of the car seems to have fallen into a "good heart without good rewards". The reporter sorted out the relevant cases and interviewed lawyer Zhong Min, director of Hainan Zuochen Law Firm, on related issues.

Incident in Haikou, riding an electric car to carry the same class of classmates to be responsible for 10% of the accident

Recently, the reporter searched through keywords on the China Judgment Documents Network and found a case that occurred in Haikou. At the intersection of a T-shaped road in Haikou, Yin drove a car from a Kang company to turn right from south to east. At that time, Ali (pseudonym) drove an electric bicycle and drove Ah Ting (pseudonym) along the non-motorized road from south to north. When Ali found Yin's vehicle, improper avoidance measures were taken, causing the car to fall down and slide north, causing the small car to collide with the passenger Ah Ting, and after Ah Ting was injured, she was rescued by the Hainan Provincial People's Hospital and died in a traffic accident.

Afterwards, the traffic police department determined that Yin Drove a small car to turn right and did not let go straight electric bicycle, which was the main cause of the accident, and Ali's improper avoidance measures were the secondary cause of the accident, and Ah Ting was only 17 years old when the accident occurred. It is understood that Ah Ting and Ali are classmates of a university in Haikou, before the accident, the two were interning in the same company, during the internship, Ah Ting took the electric car driven by Ali to commute to work, and the two were on the way to the internship unit. In the end, due to the issue of compensation, Ah Ting's parents sued the relevant responsible party in court.

The court held that, according to the determination of the road traffic accident certificate, the part exceeding the insurance liability limit should be borne by Yin mou 80% of the compensation liability, and Ali should bear 20% of the compensation liability. However, Ali and Ah Ting are classmates, Ah Ting takes her electric car to and from work, it is a good intention to ride together, in order to affirm the spirit of the actor's helpfulness, in the case of no gross negligence of the driver, the two parties to the good intentions of the ride should share the risk, so Ali actually only needs to bear 10% of the compensation liability.

Citizens: "Hitchhiking" is difficult to avoid, but it is not clear that the carriage is responsible

In life, the phenomenon of free "hitchhiking" between colleagues and friends is more common, and sometimes the owner is not embarrassed to refuse the request of colleagues and friends. What should I do in case of an accident, and is the owner responsible? According to Mr. Liu, a citizen of Haikou, his hometown is in Hunan, and he is ready to drive home for the New Year this year, just a fellow villager also wants to go back, he also invited the other party to take a "hitchhiker", and it is interesting to have someone on the road as a companion. "They are all friends, free of charge, and I am still responsible for accidents!" Mr. Liu said that he was not aware of the risks involved, and if he was responsible for doing such a good thing, he would be a bit aggrieved.

Subsequently, the reporter randomly visited many citizens, and the citizens had more or less had the experience of "rubbing" colleagues and friends' "hitchhiking" or being "rubbed" by colleagues and friends. However, the public does not know how to divide the liability in the event of a traffic accident during the trip that causes the passenger to suffer personal and property losses, involving compensation issues. In the face of some reports of disputes caused by "hitchhiking" on the Internet, many netizens directly called "too difficult" and suggested that friends first sign a "life and death exemption agreement".

Undoubtedly, in the acquaintance relationship, everyone is often embarrassed to talk about the law, once there is no prior agreement or agreement, after the incident, it is not only a matter of family affection and morality, but must rely on the legal criterion to judge, which is also the basic requirement of the rule of law society.

Lawyers say: Safe driving is king, and similar to the "life and death exemption agreement" is invalid

1. If a traffic accident is encountered in the middle of the ride, resulting in injury or death of the passenger, how to delineate the responsibility?

Lawyer Zhong Min: Whether the owner of the car is responsible for the traffic accident by hitchhiking depends on who is responsible for the traffic accident. If the traffic accident is caused by the owner's violation of the rules, and the owner bears the main responsibility for the accident, the passenger can claim compensation from the owner, and the owner shall be liable. However, if the traffic accident is caused by the other party and the other party bears the main responsibility for the accident, the passenger shall claim compensation from the other party and the other party shall bear the responsibility.

Hitchhiking, also known as "well-intentioned ride-sharing", refers to the non-operational behavior of the driver to allow others to ride free of charge based on goodwill mutual help or friendly help, such as taking friends on the road, colleagues to work, and taking strangers for a ride at the request of strangers. It is an act of camaraderie in itself, essentially different from passenger contracts and other operational acts. Article 1217 of the Civil Code clarifies that "good intentions" shall reduce the driver's liability for compensation.

2. In the face of the risks brought about by "good intentions and rides together", many people feel very aggrieved about this, and feel that the owner of the car seems to have fallen into a "good heart without good rewards". However, what is the starting point for the court to hold the owner liable?

Lawyer Zhong Min: "Good intentions are not good rewards" are actually two aspects of the problem: First, "good intentions", which is worthy of praise by the whole society; In addition, objectively "bad things have been done", whether from a humanitarian or legal point of view, it is not possible to directly deny responsibility out of good intentions, especially in the case of fault. Therefore, the law strikes a balance, that is, if the damage caused to the unpaid passenger is the responsibility of the party to the motor vehicle, the driver bears the liability for compensation, but the liability should be reduced.

A well-meaning passenger does not lose legal protection because of his act of riding free of charge, and the passenger who rides in someone else's vehicle does not mean that he is willing to bear his own risk after getting on the bus. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a good intention, but at the same time, it must be careful, even in the case of a well-intentioned ride, the driver of the vehicle should also bear the obligation to ensure the safety of the person and property of the passenger during transportation. As an act of kindness and kindness, "good intentions and multiplication" needs to be advocated in society; As a legal tort relationship, the liability relationship of "good intentions and multiplication" but causing harm to others also needs to be clarified in society.

3. In reality, a good ride can be used as a factor in reducing the driver's liability, but it does not completely exempt the driver from liability. So what if a colleague wants to take a "hitchhiker"?

Lawyer Zhong Min: If you are worried about taking risks, you can choose to refuse; If you decide to take a colleague, you hope that the driver will always put traffic safety in the first place during the driving process, clarify the legal boundaries, abide by traffic rules, drive carefully and cautiously, and ensure the personal safety of the passengers. At the same time, the passenger should also have enough safety awareness, consciously do a good job in safety protection, and try to minimize the personal loss of traffic accidents.

4. In life, the phenomenon of free "hitchhiking" between colleagues and friends is more common, sometimes the owner is not embarrassed to refuse the request of colleagues and friends, netizens support friends to sign a "life and death exemption agreement" first, such an agreement can exempt the driver from responsibility?

Lawyer Zhong Min: The greater role of this agreement is to restrain the passenger and make him voluntarily abandon the claim against the owner after an accident. However, the "agreement" cannot be used as the basis for the owner's exemption from liability, and if the owner is at fault for the traffic accident and causes injury to the passenger, the owner still has to compensate, and this agreement is invalid. After the accident, whether from a legal point of view or from an ethical point of view, as a driver should bear the corresponding liability for compensation. At the same time, as a passenger, you should not ask for a price, consider the actual situation, and cannot make well-wishers chill.

It is recommended that you should always tighten the safety string during the driving process. Any driver of a vehicle should pay attention during the driving process of the vehicle and strictly abide by the traffic safety rules. Passengers should also try to consciously communicate less with the driver to avoid distracting the driver's energy. If financial permission permits, try to increase the sum insured and the type of insurance for the vehicle as much as possible. In case of a traffic accident, the burden on the owner can be reduced to a certain extent, and at the same time, the damage compensation of the passengers can be guaranteed.

Source: South China Sea Network