A passenger who got off between stops was run over: who bears the liability?

The facts

On 20 October 2019 in Baoding, Hebei, a woman who had missed her stop asked the bus driver to stop outside the station. Because she was the only passenger on board, the driver pulled up in the overtaking lane, and she hurried off as soon as the door opened. She had run only a few paces when a dump truck came up fast on her right rear and swept her beneath it. She was taken to hospital but died despite all efforts to save her.

Article 69 of the Regulations on Road Transport provides that where a passenger transport operator or a freight operator does any of the following in breach of the Regulations, the road transport authority at or above county level orders correction and imposes a fine of not less than RMB 1,000 and not more than RMB 3,000; where the circumstances are serious, the authority that granted the licence revokes the road transport operating licence:

(1) stopping at passenger stops other than those approved, or operating on routes or to published schedules other than those prescribed;

(2) forcibly soliciting passengers or cargo;

(3) changing vehicles without authority in the course of carrying passengers, or handing passengers over to another operator for carriage;

(4) terminating passenger transport operations without authority and without reporting to the authority that granted the licence;

(5) failing to take the necessary measures to prevent cargo from falling off or spilling.

The bus driver's stopping beyond the stop was therefore unquestionably a breach of the rules. Who bears primary responsibility and who secondary responsibility is, however, much debated. Who should answer for the death of the woman who got off between stops?

The law

First, the bus driver drove a city bus without proper regard for safety and took on and set down passengers outside a stop, in breach of the Road Traffic Safety Law, which requires drivers of motor vehicles to observe road traffic safety laws and regulations and to drive safely and courteously in accordance with operating standards, and of the Implementing Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law, which provide that city buses may not stop outside a stop to take on or set down passengers. The driver cannot escape blame and may face both criminal and civil liability.

Criminal liability: Article 133 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, on the offence of causing a traffic accident, provides that a person who, in breach of the regulations on the administration of traffic and transport, causes a major accident resulting in serious injury or death or in heavy loss of public or private property, is liable to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; where the person flees after the accident or there are other especially egregious circumstances, to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years; and where death is caused by the flight, to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years. Under Article 2 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases of Causing Traffic Accidents, a person who causes a traffic accident in any of the following circumstances is liable to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention: (1) one person dies, or three or more are seriously injured, and the person bears all or primary responsibility for the accident...

The defendant in a civil claim for damages should be the bus company. The driver was acting in the course of his employment: as an employee of the company he caused a death while performing his duties, and the company, which failed to train its staff properly, should bear responsibility. Article 9 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases of Compensation for Personal Injury, issued in 2003, provides that where an employee causes harm while engaged in employment, the employer bears liability for compensation, and that where the employee causes harm intentionally or through gross negligence, the employee and the employer bear joint and several liability. Article 34 of the Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China, enacted in 2009, provides that where an employee of a work unit causes harm to another in the performance of work tasks, the work unit bears tort liability.

Second, whether the dump truck bears liability depends on whether it was observing the traffic rules at the time, whether it was speeding or overloaded or otherwise acting unlawfully, and whether it kept a proper lookout. If the truck was acting unlawfully, it too bears the corresponding legal liability.

Third, the passenger's request to be set down between stops was itself unreasonable.

How responsibility for the accident is ultimately apportioned depends on the traffic accident liability determination issued by the traffic police, and the criminal and civil consequences will differ according to that determination.

Careless parking, and the family weeps

Taken as a whole, all three were at fault to some degree. The woman's sense of safety was weak: that was why she asked to be set down before the stop, and running into the road without looking for traffic was a serious error. The bus driver had a poor sense of the rules: he did not refuse her request, stopped outside the designated stop and did so in the overtaking lane, conduct that harmed others as well as himself. The truck driver's sense of safe driving was weak: he drove a vehicle that did not meet the technical standards for braking safety. Had any one of the three been more careful, the tragedy would not have happened.

A final reminder to observe the traffic rules. Anyone may miss a stop on a bus, but set against a human life that is nothing. Always get off at the stop, leave the vehicle only once it has come to a standstill, and watch for passing traffic.

"There are countless roads, but safety comes first. Park carelessly, and the family weeps." That is worth keeping in mind.