Case Introduction: On March 12, 1999, Zheng, a driver for a freight company in Jingmen, Hubei Province, was driving the company's Dongfeng truck to a 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 Zhang, a pedestrian by the roadside. After investigation and handling by the local traffic police detachment, it was determined that neither party bore any responsibility. Only economic mediation was conducted, with the vehicle side compensating the injured party for medical expenses, nursing fees, etc., totaling 1500 yuan. Since the vehicle had already been insured for body damage 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 for 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 Handling Road Traffic Accidents of the People's Republic of China," if a motor vehicle and a pedestrian are involved in a traffic accident 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, since Zheng had no fault responsibility and did not cause serious injury to Zhang, the accident does not fall within the scope of insurance liability, so the insurance company will not compensate for the losses incurred by the vehicle side.
The second opinion is that the insurance company should pay half. The reason is that although Zheng had no fault responsibility in this accident, the accident was caused by Zheng driving the vehicle, thus establishing 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 although Zheng had no fault responsibility in this accident, Zhang's injuries were caused by him, and Zheng must bear 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 relevant."
1. In this case, although Zheng had no fault responsibility, according to Article 106 of Section 1, Chapter 6 of the "General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China" regarding general provisions of 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 responsibility.
2. Third-party liability insurance covers civil compensation responsibilities that the insured should legally bear. According to Article 10 of the motor vehicle clause, "In the event of an accidental accident involving the insured or a qualified driver permitted by the insured while using the insured vehicle, resulting in personal injury or direct property damage to a third party, the compensation amount that the insured should legally pay, the insurance company will compensate in accordance with the provisions of the insurance contract." Therefore, the insurance company in this case should pay the insurance money.
Case Conclusion:
Since accidents causing direct damage to third parties during the operation of the insured vehicle due to unintentional, objective, and unforeseeable reasons should all be considered within the scope of insurance liability, including the aforementioned "no-fault but relevant" accidental injury accidents. Therefore, the insurance company should compensate for similar third-party injury compensation cases.
Reference Documents:
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"Because of focus, simplicity; because of professionalism, trustworthiness; because of dedication, worth entrusting; because of integrity, worth relying on." Lawyer Zheng has always aspired to become an expert in traffic accident cases since the beginning of his practice. He has many years of experience in handling traffic accidents, with rich mediation and litigation skills, thoroughly understanding the procedures and processes of traffic accident handling, and maintaining good relations with courts, traffic police detachments, and disability appraisal departments.
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