who should pay for the accident if you fall on a tourist bus?
2024-09-03
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
with the arrival of the "golden september and silver october" tourist season, people's travel safety has also attracted much attention. recently, the people's court of fangshan district, beijing, concluded a case of a tourist group falling during a tour. tourists, travel agencies and tourism auxiliary service providers all need to "pay" for their respective negligence.
[replay of the case]
injured when falling while standing up on the bus
in september 2022, mr. wang and eight friends signed up for a "2-day tour to the remote suburbs of northern beijing" and signed a travel contract with a travel agency. the travel agency and a travel company jointly issued a "confirmation form" to mr. wang, stating that the tour group was the travel agency and the reception agency was a travel company. according to the contract, the travel agency was responsible for the round-trip transportation of mr. wang and others from the community to the fangshan distribution point, and a travel company was responsible for the round-trip transportation from the fangshan distribution point to the scenic spot. a travel company rented a tourist bus from a car rental company to be responsible for the specific pick-up and drop-off work.
on the day of the trip, mr. wang got on the bus. on the way to the scenic spot, when he stood up from his seat to get something, the vehicle braked and he fell down. mr. wang was immediately sent to a hospital near the scenic spot for treatment and was diagnosed with a thoracic vertebra fracture. mr. wang felt that his health was not serious and did not follow the doctor's advice to rest in bed. he continued to travel with the group the next day.
after the trip, mr. wang went to the hospital for treatment. during the recovery period, mr. wang repeatedly negotiated compensation with the travel agency but failed. he sued the travel agency, a travel company and the car rental company in court, demanding compensation for medical expenses, nursing expenses, disability compensation, etc., totaling more than 160,000 yuan.
the travel agency argued that they were only responsible for the round-trip transportation between the residential area and the fangshan distribution point. mr. wang also wrote a note in the travel contract: the tourists have been informed to pay attention to personal and property safety, and the tourists have been informed. the travel agency has fully fulfilled its safety notification obligations and does not bear any responsibility.
a travel company also refused to pay compensation, saying that they had not signed any contract with mr. wang and the travel agency. mr. wang was injured on the bus, so the bus company should be held responsible. moreover, mr. wang did not follow the doctor's advice after the injury and continued to participate in subsequent travel activities, so he should also bear some responsibility.
the car rental company disagreed with the statement of a travel company, believing that it had provided the travel company with a skilled driver and a bus that met industry requirements, and had also insured the relevant insurance. the road leading to the scenic spot is winding, and emergency braking is normal. passengers should sit well and hold on. mr. wang's fall was mainly caused by himself, and the car rental company was not at fault.
[court hearing]
travel agencies cannot escape responsibility due to “individual tourists joining a group”
after trial, the court held that mr. wang had signed a travel contract with a travel agency. although the contract stipulated that the tour group was composed of individual travelers and was organized by a travel company, he did not reach a new agreement with the travel company afterwards. the contract terms also did not state that the contractual rights and obligations enjoyed by the travel agency had been transferred to the travel company. therefore, the travel agency should still bear the responsibility of a travel operator throughout the performance of the contract. the travel agency refused to assume responsibility on the grounds that the section of the road where the injury occurred was not within the scope of the actual pick-up and drop-off services provided, and the court did not accept the defense.
the travel agency and a certain travel company as tourism operators, and the car rental company as a tourism auxiliary service provider, failed to fulfill the necessary safety protection obligations such as reminders and rescue during the journey, resulting in injuries to tourists. the travel agency, a certain travel company, and the car rental company should jointly bear the corresponding compensation liability.
as a person with full civil capacity, mr. wang did not pay careful attention to his own safety while driving, and did not fully follow the doctor's advice after seeing the doctor. he was responsible for the damage. the court decided that mr. wang should bear 40% of the responsibility, and the travel agency, a certain travel company, and the car rental company should jointly bear 60% of the compensation liability.
in the end, the court ruled that the travel agency, a tourism company, and the car rental company should compensate mr. wang for medical expenses, disability compensation, etc., totaling more than 90,000 yuan.
【judge’s tips】
tourism operators should fulfill their safety obligations
article 7 of the "provisions of the supreme people's court on several issues concerning the application of law in the trial of tourism dispute cases" stipulates that if tourism operators and tourism auxiliary service providers fail to fulfill their safety guarantee obligations, causing personal injury or property loss to tourists, and the tourists request the tourism operators and tourism auxiliary service providers to bear liability, the people's courts should support them.
if personal injury or property loss is caused to tourists due to the actions of a third party, the third party shall bear the liability; if a tourism operator or tourism auxiliary service provider fails to fulfill its safety guarantee obligations and the tourist requests them to bear corresponding supplementary liability, the people's court shall support it.
the judge pointed out that a "disclaimer" cannot really exempt from liability. tourism practitioners must work harder in route adjustment, travel rhythm, medical rescue, etc., and truly achieve professionalism and standardization in order to minimize safety risks.
