On Application Of The No-fault Liability In The Traffic Accident Damages

In case of traffic accident between motor vehicle party and non-motor vehicle party or the walker, whether the default non-motor vehicle party or the default walker should hold liabilities and compensate the damages to the motor vehicle party? Before the implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety, the vice president of the Supreme People's Court, Mr. Huang Songyou once stated in the national conference on civil trial system that, during the trailing of the case of casualty accident of non-motor vehicle party, the principle shall be based on the people-oriented and the life shall be respected. If both parties have default and even if the major fault is due to the injured party, the compensation liability of the vehicle party can only be appropriately lightened based on the principle of fault counterbalance instead of releasing the vehicle's liability or requiring the injured party to compensate the vehicle's damages after the fault counterbalance. However, the liability to compensate the vehicle's damages is still not clarified. There is no specific provisions regarding this issue in the new Law of the People's Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety, its implementary regulation and relative judicial interpretation. Therefore, this issue brings many dispute in the trail practice.There is a comparatively authoritative, main and tendentious view which states that through the Law of the People's Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety does not provide that the injured motor vehicle party could claim compensation against the default non-motor vehicle party or the walker, the principle of no-fault liability indicated in such law shall apply to the compensation by the motor vehicle party to non-motor vehicle party or the walker as well as the compensation by the non-motor vehicle party or the walker to the motor vehicle party. Additionally, the judicial interpretation of Supreme People's Court provides that the employer could claim compensation against its employee with intentional or gross negligence after the employer takes the joint compensation liability. Such interpretation indicates that the liable party with non-fault liability has the right to claim compensation against the party with significant fault. Therefore, it is considered that the injured motor vehicle party could claim compensations against the non-motor vehicle party or the walker. Based on the concept and theory of liability without fault, this article discusses the 76th statute in the Law of On-road Traffic Safety, which says that the liability without fault gauge will be applicable if there is an accident between motor vehicle and a non-motor vehicle or pedestrians. It also elaborates the significance of the principle of applying the liability without fault in traffic accident cases. It means that besides intentionally, the non-motor vehicle driver or pedestrians don't have to pay the loss of the side of motor vehicle, even though there is a severe mistake by non-motor vehicle driver or pedestrians. This conclusion disaffirms that the damaged motor vehicle may claim for compensation to the non-motor vehicle driver or pedestrians. There also are some material suggestions for the existent problems of the statute concerning the liability without fault in traffic accident cases in the Law of On-road Traffic Safety in this article.