Motor Vehicle Accident Compensation Comparative Study

The motor vehicle was invented by German in 1886. Since then motor vehicles have brought extraordinary convenience to human beings. However, social life of human beings is upset and their security is menaced by the traffic accidents caused by use, maintenance and management of the motor vehicles. According to the principles of somatologic engineering science, damage arising out of the traffic accidents concerning motor vehicles is not always attributed to subjective fault of tortfeasors therein. In order to protect the interest of victims in the traffic accidents, countries around the world have gradually adopted no-fault liability. By studying the principle of no-fault liability in America, Britain, German, France and Japan, we have found that every country has its own feature while there is similarity among different countries. In civil law no-fault liability is provided by special laws while in common law such liability is adopted by execution of compulsory liability insurance. In 2003 Road Traffic Safety Law of People's Republic of China, which adopted no-fault liability combined with faulty liability in traffic accidents, was enacted in China. However, compared to other countries, China still needs to perfect its legislation and provisions concerning traffic accidents.