Research On The Tort Liability Of Traffic Accident Caused By Defective Motor Vehicle

The tort of defective motor vehicle or traffic accident should be regulatedseparately by product liability and traffic accident liability. When the defective motorvehicle tort is the process of traffic accident tort, that is, the traffic accident caused bydefective motor vehicle, the legal causes include motor vehicle defect and drivingbehavior, which belongs to several tort. There are problems to solve such liability ofseveral tort only by product liability or traffic accident liability.To this case, in some common law countries with fault liability principle in trafficaccident liability, such as England and America, there is the theory of "rational manstandard",which would exempt the traffic accident liability but to confirm the productliability; in some civil law countries with non-fault liability principle in trafficaccident liability, such as Germany and Japan, it clearly regulates that the motorvehicle keeper cannot exempt liability by a plea of motor vehicle defect, which couldeven prevent the application of exemptions, so it confirm the traffic accident liability.Although it makes clear the liability of traffic accident caused by defective motorvehicle to some extent, it still cannot settle the problems above. Relatively, domesticlaws take multiple principles of fault liability principle and non-fault liabilityprinciple in traffic accident liability, and make the exemption effectiveness of motorvehicle defect unclear, so the problems above are more outstanding.However, the article51of the Tort Liability Law has provided a possible system,that is, the subject of defective product and the subject of driving behavior to takejoint and several liability, because assembling or scrap motor vehicle regulated by thisarticle is actually defective motor vehicle. Although it cannot be applied to the tort oftraffic accident caused by all defective motor vehicles, there is an inspired try to makeit generalization and categorization. By comparative study, legislation analysis andother methods, the paper will introduce foreign relevant system firstly, how to reliefthe problems of several tort liability in traffic accident liability or product liability,taking example from the joint of doctrine of liability fixation in common lawcountries and the restriction of exemptions in civil law countries. Secondly, the paperwill make clear domestic relevant system, to point out that there are some shortages to the liability only by traffic accident liability or product liability; there are somelimit on the application of the article51of the Tort Liability Law; there are someconflicts between legislation and judicial practice to regulate it by the theory ofseveral tort, which all stand out the difficulty of existing system. Thirdly, there is a tryto bridge the product liability and traffic accident liability in the tort of trafficaccident caused by defective motor vehicle with joint and several liability, based onthe article51of the Tort Liability Law about the joint and several liability of trafficaccident caused by assembling or scrap motor vehicles, which actually bridges trafficaccident liability and product liability, and also inspired by the article59of the TortLiability Law about the unreal joint and several liability of defective medical productstort, which actually bridges medical damage liability and product liability.