Help pick up the baby, the child left home and drowned accidentally!Parents claim 540,000 yuan?

The official website of Beijing Youth Daily

2024-04-16 11:10Posted on the official account of Beijing Beiqing.com

Pick up a neighbor's child and deliver it to his home

The guardian is not at home, and it is okay to communicate and reply on WeChat

Later, the child left home on his own

Accidental drowning

Is there any liability?

April 2, 2024

Intermediate People's Court of Yiyang City, Hunan Province

One such case was published

Basic facts of the case: The child drowned after being sent home and went out on his own

At about 10 a.m. on June 16, 2023, Peng orally entrusted his relative Zhang, who lived nearby, to pick up his son Xiao Peng from kindergarten in the afternoon.

In the afternoon of the same day, after Zhang received Xiao Peng, he sent it to the front of Peng's house and sent a WeChat message to inform Peng. Peng replied to Zhang at 15:12 in the afternoon, "It's okay, the second son is at home anyway."

Surveillance restores what happened

After Xiao Peng returned home, he rode a children's bicycle alone on the road at 15:14.

At 16:38, Xiao Peng walked alone from the highway to the well.

At around 18 o'clock that day, neighbor Li found a pair of children's shoes when he was washing clothes by the well, and quickly asked someone to fish Xiao Peng up from the well, at which time Xiao Peng had drowned.

The place of the incident is next to the well

After the accident, the child's parents could not accept the facts, and several mediations by the village committee were fruitless, and the estrangement between the two families, who had a good relationship, became increasingly estranged.

The grieving Peng believed that Zhang had a causal connection with the child's death, so he sued Zhang to the court, requesting Zhang to take responsibility and compensate for the death subsidy, burial expenses, spiritual solace and other losses totaling 546658 yuan.

The court decided:

The parties are not liable for the gratuitous entrustment relationship

The court held that this case was a dispute over an entrustment contract, and the parties had a gratuitous entrustment relationship. Peng entrusted Zhang to go to the kindergarten to pick up his son Xiao Peng from school, and after Zhang accepted the entrustment, he picked up Xiao Peng from the kindergarten to Peng's home according to Peng's instructions, and informed the child through WeChat that he had gone home, and Peng replied on WeChat. It can be determined that Zhang has completed Peng's entrustment and has reported the results of the entrustment to Peng.

After Xiao Peng returned home

Ride a children's bike out to play,

Drowning alone at a well,

is an accident,

There is no causal relationship with Zhang's entrustment.

During the entire pick-up and drop-off process, Zhang had fulfilled his duty of care as a good manager, and he was not subjectively at fault for the occurrence of the accident involved in the case.

Logically speaking, the parties are friends and neighbors, and when Peng was unable to pick up and drop off the children by himself, Zhang was willing to pick up the children from school free of charge, showing the traditional Chinese virtue of helping others, and this kind of goodwill between neighbors and friends should be affirmed and praised. When Zhang has fulfilled a certain duty of care, he should no longer be overly harsh and demand liability for compensation.

In summary, plaintiff Peng's claim that defendant Zhang was liable lacked factual and legal basis, and the court did not support it in accordance with law.

The judge said: Parents should strictly perform their guardianship duties

Parents, as the legal guardians of minors, have primary responsibility for protecting the safety of minors, and are the first person responsible for minors' personal safety, and should strictly perform guardianship duties.

In the entrustment contract, the trustee shall handle the entrusted affairs in accordance with the instructions of the principal. In the case of a gratuitous entrustment contract, if the trustee intentionally or grossly negligently causes losses to the client, the client may request compensation for the losses.

In daily life, it is common for neighbors and friends to accept commissions to help pick up and drop off children for free. Such acts of good faith are legally and morally commendable. During the entrustment period, the trustee has a special duty of safety care, and should minimize the hidden danger of accidents and avoid harm to minors. In the event that the Trustee has done its best to complete the entrusted affairs and there is no willful or gross negligence on the part of the Trustee, the Trustee shall not be liable for damages.

-END-

Source: Newsroom

View original image 20K

• 

•