3 students met to drive to the test and accidentally got into a car accident that caused serious injuries to one person, should the students who drove the car be fully responsible?The Xiangzhou District People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, recently concluded the trial of a case of injury caused by a car accident caused by "good intentions to ride together".
Xiao Wang, Xiao Shi and Xiao Chen are college classmates, and the three of them signed up for the same exam. Because the test center was outside the school and the distance was a little far, the three of them planned to share a car and drive to the test room.
On the day of the exam, Xiao Wang drove a shared car and took Xiao Chen and Xiao Shi to their destination. However, the vehicle drove not far away, and Xiao Wang's careless driving caused the vehicle to crash into the lamppost, causing injuries to three people in the car and damage to the vehicle and the lamppost. Among them, Xiao Chen was seriously injured and was immediately sent to the hospital for treatment.
Xiao Chen was diagnosed with severe head injury, multiple skull fractures, subarachnoid hemorrhage, right optic nerve canal fracture, chest injury, and multiple organ dysfunction. After being discharged from the hospital, Xiao Chen went to three hospitals in Zhuhai and Guangzhou to continue**, staying in hospital for a total of 98 days and spending a total of more than 410,000 yuan in medical expenses. It was determined that after Xiao Chen's surgery**, the skull and right eye constituted a grade 10 disability.
Xiao Chen believes that the traffic accident caused serious personal and property damage to himself, and the "Road Accident Identification Certificate" issued by the traffic police department determined that the driver Xiao Wang did not drive safely in accordance with the operation specifications and assumed full responsibility for the accident, and Xiao Wang should pay him a total of more than 590,000 yuan for medical expenses, disability compensation, and mental damages.
In the face of Xiao Chen's claim, Xiao Wang was full of grievances, arguing that he was a free driver to carry his classmates, and he had paid part of the medical expenses, and it was unreasonable to take full responsibility for himself, not to mention that Xiao Chen's serious injuries were mainly caused by his own reasons, because Xiao Chen was sitting in the back seat at the time, and as soon as he got in the car, he played with his mobile phone, and turned a deaf ear to the reminder to fasten his seat belt.
After trial, the Xiangzhou court held that the plaintiff Xiao Chen and the defendant Xiao Wang were classmates, and they agreed to rent a car to go out, jointly bear the cost of renting a car, and formed a contractual relationship with the car rental company for paid services, but internally, the defendant Xiao Wang drove the vehicle based on the friendship between the three people, performed the affairs free of charge, and did not charge additional fees to the classmates, so in the absence of a clear allocation of responsibilities in advance, and there was a high risk of such behavior, it should be determined that a goodwill co-riding relationship was formed between the driver, the defendant Xiao Wang, and the passenger, the plaintiff Xiao Chen.
Although the Road Accident Determination affirms that the defendant Xiao Wang bears full responsibility for the accident, the determination of liability is not completely equivalent to civil legal liability, and the degree of fault of the actor needs to be comprehensively determined in accordance with the principle of attribution of responsibility in civil litigation in light of the actual circumstances of the case. Although the defendant Xiao Wang was at fault for the injury of the plaintiff Xiao Chen, it was not intentional or gross negligence, and the plaintiff Xiao Chen's claim that he bear full liability for compensation violated the principle of fairness in civil activities and the consistency of rights and obligations, and according to the provisions of the Civil Code, the defendant Xiao Wang's liability for compensation should be reduced. Comprehensively considering the specific circumstances of the case when taking the ride in good faith, the facts of the accident, and the defendant Xiao Wang's behavior of taking part of the responsibility on his own initiative, etc., his liability for compensation was reduced by 40% as appropriate.
After accounting, the total losses incurred by the plaintiff Xiao Chen due to the personal injuries involved in the case were more than 540,000 yuan, and after deducting the part that had been settled by the insurance and the part that the defendant Xiao Wang had advanced, the defendant Xiao Wang also had to pay more than 280,000 yuan in compensation for medical expenses, disability compensation, and mental damages.
After the first-instance judgment, neither party appealed, and Xiao Wang took the initiative to fulfill his obligation to pay compensation.
The presiding judge said after the trial that the goodwill ride refers to the friendly behavior of the driver to pick up others or allow others to ride for free based on goodwill mutual assistance or friendly assistance, which is of positive significance for maintaining harmonious interpersonal relationships, promoting the formation of a social atmosphere of mutual assistance and friendship, and advocating green travel. However, free help is not a reason to exempt from liability, and the driver still has the obligation to protect the life and property safety of the passengers, and should pay careful attention during the whole driving process to avoid turning good things into tragedies.