On May 1 this year, the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China replaced the original Measures for Handling Road Traffic Accidents, and at the same time, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Applicable Law in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases (hereinafter referred to as the Interpretation) was officially implemented. Compared with the original Measures for Handling Road Traffic Accidents, the new trial standard for personal injury compensation has greatly improved the scope, items and standards of compensation. Among them, the amount of compensation for traffic accident death rose from several hundred thousand yuan to several hundred thousand yuan.
In the past few days, many readers have called the hotline of this newspaper to ask reporters what items need to be compensated after a car accident and how to deal with the accident legally, rationally and reasonably, which has become a hot topic for many readers to consult. To this end, the reporter asked the relevant lawyers to make a detailed analysis of the items that need compensation for traffic accidents in the new standard for readers.
Case: In the early morning of June 1 2004, Li, a middle school student in Lanxi City, was knocked down by a speeding truck on his way to school and died after being rescued. After the accident, the driver was criminally detained according to law.
Under the auspices of the traffic police department, the parents of the deceased Li and the car owner Wang mediated on the compensation. During the mediation, Li's parents demanded compensation for death compensation and funeral expenses totaling more than 300,000 yuan. Because the two sides could not reach an agreement on the amount of compensation, the mediation failed, and Li's parents filed a lawsuit in court.
Analysis: Article 123 of the General Principles of the Civil Law stipulates that if a high-speed means of transport causes damage to others, it shall bear civil liability. The vehicle involved in this case caused Li's death and should bear civil liability according to law. Then how should we determine the person responsible for this case? According to Article 9 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases, if a worker causes damage to others in employment activities, the employer shall be liable for compensation; Workers who cause damage to others due to intentional or gross negligence shall be jointly and severally liable for compensation with the employer. According to the facts of this case, the driver was grossly negligent in the accident, so the train owner and the driver should be co-defendants, and the two defendants should be jointly liable for compensation.
According to Article 17 of the Interpretation of the Supreme Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases, if the victim dies, the compensation obligor shall pay compensation: 1 Medical expenses, transportation expenses and accommodation expenses incurred during the rescue; 2. Funeral expenses, living expenses of dependents and death compensation; 3. Other reasonable expenses such as transportation, accommodation and lost time incurred by the relatives of the victims in handling the funeral. Among them, the dependent refers to the person who was actually raised before the victim's life, including minor children and parents who were actually raised, but excluding parents who were not actually raised. In this case, Li is a minor, and his parents are not his actual supporters, so he cannot claim to pay the living expenses of the dependents.
Lawyer's view
On the issue of death compensation
According to Article 29 of the Interpretation of the Supreme Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases, the death compensation is calculated for 20 years according to the per capita disposable income of urban residents or the per capita net income of rural residents in the last year where the Court of Appeal is located. In this case, Li is a rural resident. According to the law, he can only calculate death compensation according to the per capita net income standard of rural residents.
This judicial interpretation of the Supreme Court artificially separates the compensation standards of urban residents and rural residents, resulting in unfair compensation. In fact, it does not conform to the legal principle of equality before the law, and its defects are obvious. According to the data of Zhejiang Statistics Bureau in 2003, the per capita disposable income of urban residents is 1, 3 1.80 yuan, and the per capita net income of rural residents is 543 1 yuan, which means that the death compensation for urban residents is 263,600 yuan, while that for rural residents is 1 086.20 yuan, which is quite different. As a result, the calculation of lost time fee and nursing fee is also inconsistent.
On compensation for mental damage and consolation money
Regarding the question of whether people can claim compensation for mental damage if they cause death, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning Determining the Liability for Compensation for Mental Damage in Civil Tort clearly stipulates that compensation for mental damage can be claimed. Article 10 of the Interpretation stipulates that compensation for mental damage shall be at the discretion of the judge. In judicial practice, judges generally judge different amounts of mental damages according to the subjective intention or gross negligence of the actor.