A Trail Exploration Of Road Managers’ Tort Liability On Liability For Damages Caused By Obstacle

With the popularity of motor vehicles,people enjoy it`s convenience.In the meantime,they bear the traffic accident`s suffering and loss.The cases of damage responsibility in traffic accident have become rapid growth,legal relationship complex,great difficulty in the civil cases.The flourishing of public traffic must ensure smooth traffic and safe run.Highway Law of the People`s Republic of China article 46 and Law of the People`s Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety article48 prescribe vehicle drivers and other people who can control obstacles being under the obligation to remove the obstacles.Yet when the obstacles cause damage to the body or property of other people, how the road managers take responsibility?Tort Law of the People`s Republic of China article 89 firstly prescribes the road managers` responsibility on damage being caused by obstacles pilled, dumped or scattered on a public road.There is no doubt that when the road managers pill,dump,scatter the obstacles,they should take liability for tort.But when other people implement above behaviors,how to confirm the road managers`responsibility?Which liability principle should be used to confirm their responsibility?When the third party is the first infringer,doctrine of presumption should be used to the road managers.Because the degree of fault of the road managers is slighter than the infringer who pill,dump or scatter the obstacles.Using doctrine of presumption is fair,but the damage on the public roads is worse than general tort liability.So using the principle of fault responsibility can`t reminder the road managers to perform duties.In view of systematic explanation,juridical practices and administration costs.I think the road managers` responsibility should use the doctrine of presumption.The road managers` responsibility shall bear tortious liability unless they can prove that they performed duties.When using the doctrine of presumption,the composition of tortious liability is want of due diligence,subjective fault,damage and causality.In terms of shouldering responsibility,the damage of infringed caused by the thirdparty,and the road manager.But they are not joint intent,so they are not joint infringement.What they have done should be concurrence of tort.The road managers`negative act provide opportunity to the third party performing infringement act,so they shoulder the unreal joint-liability.The providing the opportunity of concurrence of tout corresponds to the supplemental liability. Road managers shoulder the supplemental liability.The extent of liability depends on the degree of fault and the causative potency.The road managers` negative act is the indirect and secondary causative potency to the damage and subjective is negligence,they shoulder lighter liability than the third party,who has pilled,dumped or scattered the obstacles.