Recently, the People's Court of Yuanling County, Hunan Province, tried a dispute over a highway passenger transportation contract and ruled that a third party should compensate the plaintiff Feng for various economic losses totaling 59739.77 yuan. The third party, a certain automobile service company, shall bear joint and several liability for the aforementioned amount. The above 59739.77 yuan amount shall be compensated and paid by the defendant, an insurance company limited by shares. A small passenger car owned by a certain individual is affiliated with a third-party car service company for the purpose of providing ride hailing services, mainly engaged in passenger transportation services and paying the registration fee. Apply for road traffic passenger liability insurance from a certain insurance company in the name of a certain automobile service company. In February 2022, the plaintiff Feng (the son of a third party, Xiang) and four others (the other three to be dealt with separately) were traveling in a Xiang bus to visit relatives. The vehicle collided with a mountain on one side of the road, causing damage to the vehicle and injuring four people in a road traffic safety accident. I am fully responsible for this traffic accident. After the accident, a certain insurance company refused to claim compensation on the grounds that the service provided by the driver to Feng, who did not purchase a ticket, was free of charge and not an operational act, and that the victim Feng was not a passenger but a relative. The court, after trial, believes that this case is a road passenger transportation contract dispute caused by a motor vehicle traffic accident. According to relevant laws and regulations: "The carrier shall be liable for compensation for the injury or death of passengers during the transportation process; except for those caused by the passenger's own health reasons or those proven by the carrier to be intentional or gross negligence of the passenger. The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to passengers who are exempt from tickets, hold preferential tickets, or travel without tickets with the carrier's permission.", The second paragraph of Article 3 of the road passenger carrier liability insurance terms provided by the defendant, a certain insurance company, also stipulates that passengers can be individuals who enjoy free ticket treatment according to the carrier's regulations. In this case, "passenger" should be understood in a broad sense rather than being considered a "passenger" as a ticketing passenger. The concepts of "passengers" and "relatives" are not a mutually exclusive relationship. As passengers, relatives also have the same rights as ordinary passengers, and the carrier has the obligation to safely transport them to the agreed location. Based on this case, it should be comprehensively determined that Feng is a passenger who was allowed by the actual carrier to board and enjoy free ticket treatment. In this case, the insured vehicle is an online ride hailing service, and there is no special agreement on the operating time and route. In summary, the right to health of passengers is not infringed upon in accordance with the law, and the carrier should bear the obligation to ensure the safety of passengers in accordance with the law. Therefore, the Yuanling Court made the above judgment in accordance with the law. After the first instance judgment, a certain insurance company filed an appeal. The Intermediate People's Court of Huaihua City upheld the original judgment after the trial. At present, the judgment in this case has come into effect. The judge stated that Article 17, Paragraph 2 of the Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China states that "for clauses in insurance contracts that exempt the insurer from liability, the insurer shall make sufficient reminders on the application form, insurance policy, or other insurance certificates to draw the attention of the policyholder when entering into the contract, and provide a clear explanation of the content of the clause to the policyholder in written or oral form."; If there is no prompt or clear explanation, this clause shall not be effective. If according to the understanding of the insurance company, passengers who do not purchase tickets are not passengers and are injured or killed on the grounds that they are not passengers
Edit：Zhoushu Responsible editor：Jia Jia
Source：http://rmfyb.chinacourt.org
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email：lwxsd@liaowanghn.com
Recommended Reading Change it 
Home
