A Comparative Study Of Liabilities For Damage Compensation Caused By Automobile Traffic Accidents

The emergence and popularization of motor vehicles has brought a great convenience to human being. But it has also caused a huge disaster. With the rapid development of the economy and automobile industry in various countries, the traffic accidents caused by motor vehicles, as a typical danger in the modern risk society, has created a lot of tragedies to human’s lives and properties. Therefore, the damage compensation of traffic accidents caused by motor vehicles has become an important issue in the tort law of various countries. The legal concepts, criterions of liability, subjects of legal responsibility, as well as contents of compensation, demonstrate the development process of modern tort law.The liability in traffic accidents, as a special liability for tort, has developed from the single fault liability to presumption of fault and finally to liability without fault. In the process of development, the legal concepts have gone through great changes, especially in the evolution of functions of tort law. The liability for tort, as a liability of legal norms, is not only a tool for social control, but also a tool for citizens to realize their rights. It is not only a way to relief their rights, but also a measure to prevent damages, share losses and restore the original conditions.This dissertation is a study of Chinese and foreign legal systems in the damage compensation of traffic accidents caused by motor vehicles from the perspective of comparative law. The author investigates the legal systems of damage compensation of traffic accidents in such industrialized country as the United States, England, Germany, France and Japan, borrows related theories and practice in these countries, analyzes the status in quo of liabilities for damage compensation of traffic accidents in China, summarizes the experiences and problems in the judicial practice, and tries to establish a damage compensation system that is both adaptive to Chinese circumstances and associated with foreign practices.This dissertation is comprised of six chapters, which address the following contents:the theory of liability for damage compensation of traffic accidents, improvement of insurance system of liability for damage compensation of traffic accidents, contributory negligence system, how to borrow foreign advanced practices, the necessity to enact a special damage compensation law for traffic accidents, and the dealing of tort and contract-breaking liability. The aim of this dissertation is to provide some policy advice for judicial practitioners, which can contribute to the establishment of a well-structured, effective, and adaptive damage compensation system. The author hopes that such a system can play an important role to control and reduce traffic accidents in China.