Article 1211
If a motor vehicle engaged in road transport business activities in the form of affiliation causes damage due to a traffic accident, and the motor vehicle is the responsibility of one party to the motor vehicle, the sponsor and the affiliated party shall bear joint and several liability.
1. The main purpose of this article
This article is about the provisions on the subject of responsibility and the form of responsibility for traffic accidents caused by motor vehicles affiliated to road transport operations.
II. Evolution of the Provisions
This article is a new article, which stipulates the subject of responsibility and the form of joint and several liability for traffic accidents caused by the operation of motor vehicles. This article is derived from the Interpretation on Compensation for Road Traffic Damages (Fa Shi [2012] No. 19), which is a typical example of adjudication practice experience being elevated to legislation.
3. Interpretation of Provisions
This article is a provision on the liability for traffic accidents involving affiliated motor vehicles.
It is a relatively common phenomenon to engage in the operation of motor vehicles in the form of road transport business activities, because the operation of motor vehicles requires the approval of the government management department, and the government only handles the operation qualification for legal persons or unincorporated organizations, and does not issue operation qualifications to individuals, so individuals can only be attached to the units with operation qualifications to engage in motor vehicle operation activities.
The characteristics of the legal relationship in the form of affiliation for the operation of motor vehicles are:
(1) Individuals who enjoy the ownership of motor vehicles do not have operating qualifications, and must be attached to a motor vehicle operating unit with operating qualifications and carry out operation activities in the name of the unit.
(2) The affiliated operating unit agrees to its affiliation, and the individual is operated in its own name as an employee in its own name.
(3) There is usually a certain exchange of interests between the two parties, that is, the affiliated party has to pay the agreed management fee to the affiliated party on time, so that the two parties form a relationship of rights and obligations, and there are very few affiliated parties that are completely free.
(4) Although the owner of the affiliated motor vehicle operates in the name of the affiliated unit, it is actually operating by itself, and in principle, it is not subject to the control of the affiliated unit.
If a traffic accident involving a motor vehicle causes damage to another person, and the liability of the motor vehicle is attributable to the motor vehicle, the method of apportionment of liability is that the affiliated party and the affiliated party jointly and severally bear joint and several liability and bear responsibility in accordance with the joint and several liability rules provided for in Article 178 of the Civil Code. The infringed party may claim joint and several liability against the affiliated party or the affiliated party.
4. Cases
Wang Moumao v. Sun Mouzhong, a motor vehicle traffic accident liability dispute
Facts: Sun Mouzhong drove a truck attached to Haishuo Company and collided with an electric tricycle driven by Wang Moumao, resulting in injuries to Wang Moumao and damage to the two vehicles, signal lights and green belts. Haishuo Company and PICC Zhengzhou Company signed a contract for compulsory motor vehicle traffic accident liability insurance and commercial third-party liability insurance, and the latter contract stipulated that an absolute waiver of 10% would be implemented in case of violation of the safe loading regulations. At the time of the accident, the vehicle involved was overloaded by 9.5%. Wang Moumao filed a lawsuit with the court, requesting that Sun Mouzhong, Haishuo Company, and PICC Zhengzhou Company be ordered to compensate for losses. The court of first instance held that because Sun Mouzhong and the defendant Haishuo Company were affiliated, the defendant Haishuo Company should be jointly and severally liable for the compensation liability of the defendant Sun Mouzhong. Dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment, Sun appealed on the grounds that he was unaware of the insurance company's so-called "violation of the safe loading regulations, the implementation of an absolute 10% free odds". The court of second instance held that although Sun Mouzhong was the actual owner of the car, he had an affiliation relationship with Haishuo Company. The official seal of Haishuo Company was stamped in the exemption column of the insurance policy signed between Haishuo Company and PICC Zhengzhou Company, and PICC Zhengzhou Company also fulfilled its obligation to inform, so it was not improper for Sun Mouzhong to compensate Wang Moumao for various losses in the first instance.
5. Analysis
This case involves the determination of the subject of responsibility for the damage caused by a traffic accident involving a motor vehicle. It is generally believed that there is no problem for the owner of a motor vehicle to bear tort liability. What is at issue is whether the affiliated party is the subject of responsibility. Chapter 6 of the Tort Liability Law, "Liability for Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents", leaves this issue blank. Article 3 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases of Compensation for Damages in Road Traffic Accidents provides that the sponsor and the affiliated party shall be jointly and severally liable. Article 1211 of the Civil Code, on the basis of drawing on this judicial experience, continues to stipulate that the sponsor and the affiliated party shall bear joint and several liability. In this case, the vehicle involved in the accident was attached to Haishuo Company by Sun Mouzhong, and when a motor vehicle traffic accident occurred, Sun Mouzhong and Haishuo Company were jointly and severally liable for the occurrence of damages. The adoption of joint and several liability can not only comprehensively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the victim and make up for the victim's relief losses in a timely manner, but also supervise the operation of the affiliated behavioral norms.