More than three years after the much-disputed Law on Road Traffic Safety was put into effect, a draft amendment was tabled for review at the ongoing meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. It will nail down specific liabilities for motor vehicle drivers involved in traffic accidents.

More than three years after the much-disputed Law on Road Traffic Safety was put into effect, a draft amendment was tabled for review at the ongoing meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

According to Article 76 of law, when a traffic accident occurs between the driver of a motor vehicle and the driver of a non-motor vehicle or a pedestrian, the driver of the motor vehicle shall bear the liability; but if there is evidence which proves that the driver of the non-motor vehicle or the pedestrian has violated any laws and regulations on road traffic safety and if the driver of the motor vehicle has taken the necessary measures to cope with the situation, the liability to be borne by the motor vehicle driver shall be lightened accordingly.

This clause highlights the protection of non-motor vehicle drivers and pedestrians, but it does not nail down specific liabilities for motor drivers in case of accidents, said Bai Jingfu, Vice Minister of Public Security, in an explanation to the draft amendment.

"Some local legislative bodies have made their own stipulations but this has led to an inconsistency nationwide," said Bai.

The draft amendment will unify the liability criteria on the basis of the proportion of each party's fault.

If the non-motor vehicle driver or pedestrian assumes the minor responsibility, then motor vehicle drivers will pay 80 percent of the compensation that exceeds the liability limit of the compulsory third party liability insurance; if the two parties assume equal responsibilities, the proportion for the motor drivers will be 60 percent; when the former assumes the major responsibility, the latter will pay 40 percent. Finally, if it is the full responsibility of the former, the latter will pay up to 10 percent, according to the draft.

The 10 percent proportion was originally set down in the regulations on traffic accidents that went into effect in 1992, according to Ding Feng, an official from the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council.

"It has been practiced for many years and is generally accepted and therefore was written down into the new amendment," said Ding.

The new provision embodies the principle of fairness and provides a more specific legal basis for appropriate departments to follow in traffic accident cases, both Bai and Ding agreed.

However, the NPC Internal & Judicial Affairs Committee suggested, after reviewing the draft amendment, establishing an overall principle for compensation payment and leaving the specific proportions to local legislature to set down.

Article 76 aroused hot debates when it first proposed strict liabilities assigned to motor vehicle drivers in traffic accidents, even when they were not the party at fault. Objectors said that this ruling might increase traffic violations by non-motor vehicle drivers and pedestrians.

However, it was finally legalized in order to give precedence to pedestrians' right to life over motorists' right of way.

According to Ding, the clause also has its legal basis in the General Principles of the Civil Law, which stipulates that if any person causes damage to another by engaging in operations that are greatly hazardous to the surroundings, such as operations conducted high aboveground, or those involving high pressure, high voltage, combustibles, explosives, highly toxic or radioactive substances or high-speed means of transport, he shall bear civil liability.

"Motor vehicles are considered high-speed means of transport, compared with non-motor vehicles and pedestrians," said Ding. "Therefore, they will be assigned more liability in traffic accidents."

Changes to Article 76:

In 1999, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, publicized a regulation on traffic accidents, stipulating that if a traffic accident is caused by a pedestrian's violation, then motor vehicle drivers bore no liability.

In 2000, more than 20 cities across the country followed suit.

In June, 2003, the National People's Congress deliberated the draft Law on Road Traffic Safety and whether to put the above regulation into the law became a hotly debated issue.

On May 1, 2004, the Law on Road Traffic Accident went into effect. Its Article 76 stipulates that when a traffic accident occurs between the driver of a motor vehicle and the driver of a non-motor vehicle or a pedestrian, the driver of the motor vehicle shall bear the liability; but if there is evidence which proves that the driver of the non-motor vehicle or the pedestrian has violated the laws and regulations on road traffic safety and the driver of the motor vehicle has taken the necessary measures to cope with the situation, then the liability to be borne by the motor vehicle driver shall be lightened.

In September, 2004, Beijing published the implementation rules on Road Traffic Safety Law, stipulating that if a traffic accident is caused by traffic violations of a pedestrian and the driver of a motor vehicle is not at fault, the latter only has to pay the least amount of compensation specified by law.

(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang October 26, 2007)