China's top legislature adopted on Saturday an amendment to the
country's road traffic safety law, changing one controversial
article which has seen frictions between motor vehicle drivers and
pedestrians over the past three years.
It added: "If automobile drivers make no fault in accidents,
they should face no more than 10 percent of the total
compensation", despite the opposition from many Chinese drivers who
argued they should not face compensation liability if they were not
to blame in the accidents.
The amendment to the Law on Road Traffic Safety passed by the
31st session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National
People's Congress (NPC), will come into effect on May 1, 2008.
The amendment, based on the principle of "showcasing respect to
life", further clarified the responsibility of and compensation
from vehicle drivers, non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians.
It stipulated that "If non-motorized vehicle drivers and
pedestrians make no fault in accidents, the automobile drivers
should bear the compensation liability."
It read, "Automobile drivers should bear less responsibility if
evidence shows that non-motorized vehicle drivers or pedestrians
are at fault. The automobile driver's compensation liability should
be reduced according to the extent of the fault that the
non-motorized vehicle drivers or pedestrians have made."
China reported 159,000 road accidents in the first six months of
this year, in which 37,000 people were killed and 189,000 were
injured, according to figures from the Ministry of Public
Security.
(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2007)