Who is responsible if a student has a traffic accident at a driving school?
Before the training vehicle crashed into the wall, student Zheng chose to jump out of the vehicle and suffered a level-9 disability from the fall. Who should be held responsible for Zheng's injuries? The People's Court of Ouhai District, Wenzhou City recently concluded a body rights dispute case: the driving school bears 70% of the liability, while Zheng himself bears 30%.
[Case] On January 16, 2012, at a driving school training ground in Wenzhou, a training vehicle was practicing reverse parking. Instructor Xu was guiding from outside the vehicle, the driver was student Hu, Zheng was sitting alone in the back seat, and another student was in the passenger seat. Hu drove the car out of the parking space and turned right when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. Zheng quickly shouted to brake. Hu became more nervous and stepped down hard, but hit the accelerator instead, causing the training vehicle to speed up and head straight for the perimeter wall. Zheng immediately jumped out of the vehicle through the right-side door. “Bang”! The car crashed into the wall. Although student Hu and the other student in the car were unharmed, Zheng was taken to the hospital by ambulance due to injuries from the fall and underwent two surgeries.
After a judicial appraisal institution in Wenzhou determined that Zheng's injuries constituted a Grade 9 disability for traffic accident purposes following treatment, Zheng brought the aforementioned parties before the court, seeking compensation for ten items, including medical expenses, hospital meal subsidies, nutrition expenses, nursing expenses, and lost wages, totaling 253,444.49 yuan. However, upon trial, the court held that the fact that Hu and another student were not injured proved that Zheng's act of jumping from the vehicle constituted an improper emergency avoidance measure, and that Zheng should bear 30% of his own losses; the driving school should bear 70% of the losses, totaling 179,511.14 yuan.
(People's Daily Online)
[Legal Study] With the increasing number of car owners, the number of people learning to drive at driving schools has also surged. While driving schools profit, they also bear significant risks. However, when student Hu had a traffic accident at a driving school, the determination of liability and responsibility differed from ordinary traffic accidents.
First, the parties involved are different. In ordinary road traffic accidents, the parties typically hold motor vehicle driver's licenses, having undergone training and passed qualification examinations, and are relatively competent both in driving skills and psychologically. However, Hu, a driving school student, is different: Hu is still in the learning process and has not passed the qualification examination, making him a person who is not permitted to drive on the road independently.
Second, the causal relationship differs. In terms of fault, drivers with licenses bear responsibility for accidents they cause. However, when a driving school student causes an accident, liability is multifaceted, divided between the student and the driving school. The driving school's duty is to arrange instructors to teach and assist students in driving on the road, avoid traffic hazards, and ensure safe driving, so the law grants them corresponding responsibility.
The Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law of our country clearly stipulate that "learning to drive on the road shall be conducted on routes and at times designated by the traffic management department of the public security organ. Learning motor vehicle driving skills on the road shall be conducted using a training vehicle, under the on-board guidance of a driving instructor, and persons unrelated to the instruction shall not ride in the training vehicle. If a trainee commits a road traffic violation or causes a traffic accident while learning to drive, the driving instructor shall bear liability." The liability arising from a driving instructor in the course of performing their duties shall, in accordance with the law, be borne by the driving school. Therefore, in this case, although trainee Hu caused a traffic accident during driving school training activities, Hu is not required to bear compensation liability.
