"Driving away from the scene" after an accident, is the commercial third-party insurance deductible?

Zhang Fa case [2024] 23

01

Basic facts of the case

In August 2023, Wu Moumou drove a heavy-duty semi-trailer tractor and collided with an electric bicycle driven by Zhu Moumou, causing Zhu Moumou to be injured and causing a road traffic accident. The accident identification letter determined that Wu Moumou drove away from the scene after the accident and assumed full responsibility for the accident. After evaluation, Zhu Moumou constituted a ninth-grade disability; The missed work period is 120 days, the nursing period is 60 days, and the nutrition period is 60 days. Zhu Moumou sued Wu Moumou and an insurance company to the court, demanding compensation for various losses totaling more than 350,000 yuan. An insurance company asserted that Wu had escaped after the accident, and that he should be exempted from liability within the scope of commercial third-party insurance.

02

Heard by the courts

After the trial, the court held that on the issue of whether the commercial third-party insurance is exempted. An insurance company asserted that Wu had escaped and that he should not be liable for compensation within the scope of commercial third-party insurance. This court held that "escape" should be a subjective intention to evade legal responsibility, and objectively cause the consequences that it is difficult to determine responsibility or the loss is expanded. Based on the facts of this case and the surveillance video of the accident scene, Wu Moumou was driving normally at the time of the accident, and the vehicle that caused the accident was fully insured, and Wu Moumou was able to actively state the case after receiving a telephone notice from the traffic police department, so Wu Moumou subjectively did not have the intention and necessity to evade legal responsibility. In addition, after the accident, the injured were promptly sent to the hospital for treatment, and Wu's behavior of driving away from the scene did not lead to the inability to determine responsibility or the expansion or aggravation of losses. Therefore, Wu's act of driving away from the scene does not belong to the exemption of liability as stipulated in the insurance contract, and the insurance company should bear the liability for compensation within the scope of commercial third-party insurance. Accordingly, it was decided that: 1. An insurance company should compensate Zhu XX for various losses totaling 198,000 yuan within the scope of compulsory traffic insurance within 10 days after this judgment takes effect; 2. Within 10 days after this judgment takes effect, an insurance company shall compensate Zhu XX for various losses totaling 122,756.25 yuan within the scope of commercial third-party insurance; 3. Reject Zhu's other litigation claims.

03

What the judge said

The first paragraph of Article 70 of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: "In the event of a traffic accident on the road, the driver of the vehicle shall immediately stop to protect the scene; If personal injury or death is caused, the driver of the vehicle shall immediately rescue the injured person and promptly report to the traffic police on duty or the traffic management department of the public security organ. Where the scene is changed due to the rescue of injured persons, the location shall be indicated. Passengers, drivers of passing vehicles, and passing pedestrians shall assist. When applying for insurance, the exemption clause of motor vehicle commercial insurance usually also has an agreement that "the insurance company shall not be responsible for compensating for personal injury, property damage and expenses caused by the driver's traffic hit-and-run". It can be seen that it is the legal obligation of drivers to stop the car immediately after the accident, call the police, protect the scene, and rescue the injured. So does the driver's "departure from the scene" after the accident necessarily lead to a commercial third-party insurance deductible?

1. "Driving away from the scene" and "hit-and-run" are two different concepts. "Hit-and-run" is an illegal act prohibited by laws and administrative regulations, and there are mainly the following three constitutive elements: first, the party has the intention to evade legal prosecution; second, failure to fulfill obligations such as treating the injured; The third is not to perform the obligation to accept the investigation of the traffic management department of the public security organ and cooperate with the investigation. Therefore, it is not possible to determine that the driver "hit and run" solely on the basis of "driving away from the scene".

2. The key to whether commercial insurance is deductible is whether the driver's behavior of "driving away from the scene" constitutes a "hit-and-run". In trial practice, it can be determined through the following two aspects: First, whether the driver was aware of the accident. During the trial, a comprehensive judgment should be made based on factors such as the surveillance video data of the accident scene, the condition of the vehicle itself, road conditions, weather conditions, whether the vehicle was driving normally before and after the accident, and whether the collision site was a blind spot of the vehicle. In the above case, the vehicle driven by the driver was a heavy-duty semi-trailer tractor, and judging from the surveillance video, the vehicle was driving normally, and the collision site belonged to the blind spot of the vehicle, so this court comprehensively determined that the driver did not have the intention to evade responsibility. The second is whether the driver's behavior of "driving away from the scene" makes it difficult to determine liability or increases losses. The purpose of the insurance company's "hit-and-run" exemption is to restrain drivers from calling the police in a timely manner, protecting the scene and treating the injured, so as to facilitate the traffic police department to clarify responsibilities and prevent the consequences of damage from aggravating. If the passer-by reports to the police in time after the accident and the injured person receives timely treatment, and does not cause serious consequences such as the liability cannot be determined or the injured person's injury is aggravated, the driver's behavior of "driving away from the scene" in this case does not increase the liability of the insurance company, so the commercial insurance should not be exempted from liability.

To sum up, whether the driver's "driving away from the scene" after the accident leads to the deductibility of commercial third-party insurance should be judged from both subjective and objective aspects, that is, whether the driver was aware of the accident (whether he had the intention to evade responsibility), whether his behavior caused the liability to be unable to be determined or the loss was expanded or aggravated. Although "driving away from the scene" does not necessarily lead to a commercial insurance deductible, it still reminds the majority of drivers that "the regulations are in the heart, and the safety is in the hands", and in the event of an accident, we must pay attention to protecting the scene, calling the police in time, and rescuing the injured.

Relevant Laws

Article 1213 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China Where damage is caused by a traffic accident involving a motor vehicle and the liability of the motor vehicle party is the responsibility of the motor vehicle, the insurer underwriting the compulsory insurance of the motor vehicle shall first compensate within the limit of the liability of the compulsory insurance; For the shortfall of the part, the insurer underwriting the commercial insurance of motor vehicles shall compensate in accordance with the provisions of the insurance contract; If it is still insufficient or has not taken out commercial insurance for motor vehicles, the infringer shall compensate for it.

Article 70 of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China In the event of a traffic accident on the road, the driver of the vehicle shall stop immediately to protect the scene; If personal injury or death is caused, the driver of the vehicle shall immediately rescue the injured person and promptly report to the traffic police on duty or the traffic management department of the public security organ. Where the scene is changed due to the rescue of injured persons, the location shall be indicated. Passengers, drivers of passing vehicles, and passing pedestrians shall assist.

If a traffic accident occurs on the road and no personal injury or death is caused, and the parties have no dispute about the facts and causes, they may immediately evacuate the scene, resume traffic, and negotiate to deal with the compensation for damages on their own; If they do not evacuate the scene immediately, they shall promptly report to the traffic police on duty or the traffic management department of the public security organ.

Where a traffic accident occurs on the road and only minor property damage is caused, and the basic facts are clear, the parties shall first evacuate the scene and then negotiate and handle it.

Article 17 of the Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China Where an insurance contract is concluded and the standard clauses provided by the insurer are adopted, the insurance policy provided by the insurer to the policyholder shall be accompanied by standard clauses, and the insurer shall explain the contents of the contract to the policyholder.

　　For the clause exempting the insurer from liability in the insurance contract, the insurer shall, at the time of conclusion of the contract, make a reminder sufficient to attract the attention of the policyholder on the insurance policy, insurance policy or other insurance certificate, and make a clear explanation to the policyholder in written or oral form of the content of the clause; If there is no reminder or clear explanation, the clause shall not be effective.

Article 11 of the Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the <中华人民共和国保险法>Insurance Contract When an insurance contract is concluded, if the insurer reminds the clause in the insurance contract exempting the insurer from liability in the insurance contract with words, fonts, symbols or other conspicuous signs sufficient to attract the attention of the policyholder, the people's court shall find that it has fulfilled the obligation to prompt as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 17 of the Insurance Law.

　　Where the insurer gives an explanation to the policyholder in written or oral form of the concept, content and legal consequences of the clause exempting the insurer from liability in the insurance contract that can be understood by ordinary people, the people's court shall find that the insurer has fulfilled its obligation to make a clear explanation as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 17 of the Insurance Law.

Source: Zhangdian Court