Case Introduction:
On March 12, 1999, Zheng, a driver of a freight company in Jingmen City, Hubei Province, was driving the company's Dongfeng brand car to the gate of a company warehouse when the left rear wheel of the vehicle ran over a broken brick on the road. The broken brick flew out and shattered the right knee bone of pedestrian Zhang. After investigation and handling by the local traffic police detachment, it was determined that neither party bore responsibility, and only economic mediation was conducted. It was decided that the car party would compensate the injured party for medical expenses, nursing fees, etc., amounting to 1500 yuan. Since the vehicle had already been insured with vehicle insurance and third-party liability insurance, after the case was handled, the freight company submitted relevant documents and materials to the insurance company for claims.
Case Analysis:
First, after accepting this case, the insurance company had several different opinions on how to handle this third-party liability insurance compensation case involving motor vehicles:
The first opinion is that the insurance company should deny the claim. The reason is that although Zheng, the driver of the freight company, caused harm to Zhang by running over a broken brick on the road, according to Article 44 of the "Regulations on the Handling of Road Traffic Accidents of the People's Republic of China": "If a traffic accident occurs between a motor vehicle and a pedestrian, resulting in the death or serious injury of the other party, even if the motor vehicle side has no fault, it should still bear ten percent of the loss." In this case, driver Zheng has neither fault nor caused serious injury to pedestrian Zhang. Therefore, the accident does not fall within the scope of insurance liability, and the losses incurred by the car party will not be compensated by the insurance company.
The second opinion is that the insurance company should compensate half. The reason is that although driver Zheng had no fault in this accident, the accident was caused by Zheng driving the car, which establishes a causal relationship. Considering Zhang's injuries and the special nature of this accident, the insurance company can compensate at 50%.
The third opinion is that the insurance company should fully compensate. The reason is that in this accident, although driver Zheng had no fault, pedestrian Zhang's injury was caused by him, so Zheng must bear the compensation responsibility. Therefore, the insurance company should fully compensate the insurance money according to Zheng's compensation amount.
Second, this is a third-party liability compensation case of "no-fault but related."
1. In this case, although driver Zheng had no fault, according to Article 106 of Chapter 6, Section 1 of the "General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China" regarding general provisions on civil liability: "Even if the parties have no fault, they shall bear civil liability for causing personal injury to the other party as required by law." Therefore, Zheng should bear civil compensation liability.
2. Third-party liability insurance covers the civil compensation liability that the insured person is legally obligated to bear. According to Article 10 of the Motor Vehicle Terms: "If an unexpected accident occurs during the use of the insured vehicle by the insured person or a qualified driver authorized by them, resulting in personal injury or direct property damage to a third party, the insured person shall legally pay the compensation amount, and the insurance company shall provide compensation in accordance with the provisions of the insurance contract." Therefore, the insurance company in this case should compensate the insurance money.
Case Conclusion:
Since any accidental accidents that cause direct damage to third parties during the operation of the insured vehicle, whether intentional or unintentional, objective and unforeseen, should all be considered within the scope of insurance liability, including the aforementioned "no-fault but related" accidental injury accidents. Therefore, the insurance company should compensate for similar third-party injury compensations.
Reference Literature:
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