Guarding the "Road of Peace" with Justice - Written on the 20th Anniversary of the Implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Law
2024-05-30
The Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Road Traffic Law) has been in effect for 20 years since May 1, 2004. Establishing good laws and governing the country. As an important law that comprehensively regulates road traffic safety, guides road traffic governance activities, and promotes the construction of a rule of law society, the Road Traffic Law has been implemented for 20 years, and the public's awareness of safe and civilized traffic has been continuously enhanced. China's road traffic safety rule of law construction has also achieved remarkable results. Building the foundation of the rule of law, exercising the power of the rule of law, and accumulating the momentum of the rule of law. For the past 20 years, the people's courts have lawfully and properly tried various types of road traffic safety cases, timely issued relevant judicial policies in conjunction with relevant departments, continuously promoted the governance of road traffic dispute sources, and safeguarded the "safe road" of the people with the power of the rule of law. Since the official implementation of the Road Traffic Law in 20 years, China's road traffic legal and regulatory system has gradually developed and improved. During this period, the Road Traffic Law underwent three revisions in 2007, 2011, and 2021, continuously updating its content on compensation for traffic accidents, punishment for drunk driving, and management of driving qualification exams. It solved new traffic management problems brought about by the development of new formats such as ride hailing and delivery vehicles, providing a legal basis for correctly handling various social relationships in road traffic activities and strictly regulating law enforcement. Zhang Li, Vice Dean and Professor of the Law School of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that the implementation of the Road Traffic Law has effectively promoted the legalization process of road traffic safety work, created a safe, orderly and smooth road traffic environment, improved the level of road traffic management services, promoted the standardized construction of traffic police law enforcement, and enhanced the public's awareness of rule of law and civilized traffic. In the face of the rapid development of China's economy and society, as well as the increasing demand from the public for a safe, orderly, and smooth transportation environment, the people's courts actively play the role of judicial functions and use the power of the rule of law to safeguard the people's "path of peace". The Eighth Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on May 1, 2011, added the crime of dangerous driving, effectively curbing dangerous driving behaviors such as drunk driving. The rule of law concept of "drinking without driving, driving without drinking" has deeply rooted in people's hearts, and the governance of drunk driving has achieved significant results. In order to unify the judicial standards for law enforcement, strictly regulate and handle drunk driving cases in accordance with the law, the Supreme People's Court, together with relevant departments, formulated the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Drunk Driving Motor Vehicles" and "Opinions on Handling Criminal Cases of Drunk Dangerous Driving" in 2013 and 2023, further promoting the formation of a scientific governance system for drunk driving with administrative law enforcement and criminal justice progressing in stages. In November 2017, the Supreme People's Court, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, launched a pilot project for road traffic integration reform in 14 provinces and cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, in order to continue promoting the governance of road traffic dispute sources. In May 2020, the comprehensive reform of road and traffic integration was launched nationwide, and a road and traffic integration platform was established. Big data was used to build a collaborative work pattern between public security organs, judicial administrative organs, insurance institutions, and people's courts, to professionally and efficiently resolve road traffic disputes. In order to further promote the standardization of compensation standards for urban and rural residents involved in road traffic accident liability disputes, the Supreme People's Court issued a notice in September 2019 on authorizing the pilot of unified compensation standards for personal injury in urban and rural areas, authorizing various higher people's courts to carry out pilot work of unified compensation standards for personal injury compensation disputes in urban and rural areas within their jurisdiction. Among them, Guangdong, as one of the first pilot provinces, took the lead in clarifying the unified urban and rural compensation standards for road traffic accidents, and launched the Guangdong Province Road Traffic Accident Damage Compensation Calculation Mini Program. After entering relevant information, the parties can intelligently calculate the amount of road traffic accident dispute damage compensation in the mini program, which helps them form reasonable expectations, reduce differences, and facilitate reconciliation. On February 15, 2022, the 1864th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court passed the Decision of the Supreme People's Court on Amending the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases of Personal Injury Compensation, which changed the compensation standards for disability compensation, death compensation, and the living expenses of dependent persons from the original urban-rural differentiation to the unified calculation of urban resident standards. For the past 20 years, the people's courts have attached great importance to the trial of administrative cases related to road traffic. Several courts in different regions have specially released typical cases related to road traffic accidents, and some courts have issued white papers to promote and guide key content such as the relevant situation and distinctive measures of road traffic accident cases. In response to the new situations and problems that have emerged in judicial practice, the Supreme People's Court has conducted in-depth research, timely introduced relevant judicial policies, and issued the "Reply of the Supreme People's Court on whether the Public Security Traffic Police Department can refuse to issue motor vehicle inspection qualification marks on the grounds that traffic violations have not been dealt with." In response to the issue of issuing motor vehicle inspection qualification marks, it is clear that the traffic management department cannot refuse to issue vehicle annual inspection qualification marks on the grounds that the parties involved have traffic safety violations that have not been fully dealt with. At the same time, timely release of the Supreme People's Court Gazette cases, carefully screening more than ten road traffic safety cases into the People's Court case library, strengthening the effectiveness of case guidance, and preventing and reducing conflicts and disputes from the source. Over the past 20 years, the road to rule of law in road traffic safety has achieved fruitful results and remarkable achievements. Since the implementation of the Road Traffic Law, the number of motor vehicle drivers in China has increased from 103 million to 523 million, the number of motor vehicles has increased from 96 million to 435 million, the mileage of highways has increased from 1.87 million kilometers to 5.44 million kilometers, and the number of major traffic accidents has decreased from 55 in 2004 to 1 in 2023, a decrease of 98.2%. According to statistics, from 2004 to 2023, the people's courts concluded a total of 1.3581 million criminal first instance cases of traffic accidents and 1.3647 million people. Among them, 679400 cases and 748900 people were reviewed and concluded from 2004 to 2013; From 2014 to 2023, 678700 cases and 615800 people were reviewed and concluded. In the past decade, criminal cases of traffic accidents have gradually decreased, with 80300 cases received in the first instance in 2013 and 44300 cases received in the first instance in 2023, a decrease of 44.86% compared to 2013. According to Zhang Li, with the doubling of road mileage and the number of motor vehicles and drivers, the overall road traffic safety situation in the country has remained stable, with a significant decrease in major traffic accidents. The national trunk roads are orderly and unobstructed, and the level of road traffic safety management and law enforcement capabilities are basically adapted to the rapid development of road traffic. The implementation of the Road Traffic Law has made important contributions to serving economic and social development and ensuring the well-being of the people. Hope coexists with difficulties, opportunities and challenges coexist. Road traffic safety issues have always been an important livelihood issue related to the safety of people's lives and property, as well as social stability. Faced with the continuous development of transportation elements such as people, vehicles, and roads, in the new situation, new situation, and new challenges, the people's court will continue to promote the governance of road traffic dispute sources, help resolve road traffic disputes and embark on the "highway", and use justice to protect the people's "safe road". (Lai Xin She)
Edit：Jia jia Responsible editor：Liling
Source：http://rmfyb.chinacourt.org
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