news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

the tragedy was something that no one wanted. in allocating responsibility in this case, whether the factors of all parties should be taken into consideration, the most important point is that the determination of criminal responsibility should be carefully considered.

text | wu xue

24 days have passed since the incident, and the case of a child who died in a bicycle accident in rongcheng county, baoding, hebei is still fermenting.

the incident was heartbreaking: on august 11, an 11-year-old boy was riding with his father and a cycling team on a two-way road. he fell in the opposite lane and was then run over by a car. the boy died after failed rescue efforts.

after the incident, it sparked widespread discussion and attention from the public. many netizens pointed out that children under the age of 12 are not allowed to ride bicycles on public roads. this is basic common sense, and the father and son riding bicycles lack safety awareness.

on september 3, the family of the driver involved told reporters that the driver, jiang, had been arrested for "suspected of causing death by negligence". the family said that the driver, jiang, was taken away by the police after the incident and has been detained in the rongcheng county detention center in xiong'an new area. as the section of the road where the accident occurred was not open to traffic, the accident was handled by the criminal police.

the family of the driver involved questioned why the case turned into a criminal case. "the driver was wronged. it was an accidental traffic accident. he had no time to react. why did it turn into a criminal case?"

if a child is riding a bicycle or racing on the road and is under the age of driving, has the father fulfilled his guardianship responsibilities as a guardian? does the driver really have to bear all the responsibility alone?

on september 4, zhou zhaocheng, the defense lawyer for the driver involved in the incident and from beijing anjian law firm, was interviewed by a reporter from xinmin weekly. on the morning of august 28, zhou zhaocheng met with the driver involved in the incident, jiang, at rongcheng county detention center. jiang was puzzled about being accused of manslaughter.

jiang believes that he is innocent. after the incident, he did not run away, but actively took responsibility. he was also very sad about the accidental death of his child, but he did not agree with the current charges, believing that it was an accident and he did not commit a crime.

zhou zhaocheng believes that the tragedy was something that no one wanted to happen. in allocating responsibility in this case, whether the factors of all parties should be taken into consideration, the most important point is that the determination of criminal responsibility should be carefully considered.

how is wrongful death defined?

the reporter sorted out two controversial points in the whole incident.

the first is how to define whether the driver's behavior is manslaughter. as his defense lawyer said, whether the criminal liability determination has been carefully considered; the second is whether the driver should bear all the responsibility? should the organizer of the ride, the child's guardian, and the highway management also bear corresponding responsibilities?

zhu pingsheng, a lawyer at shanghai junyue law firm, told xinmin weekly that from the perspective of the case itself, the driver's behavior was ruled out as intentional. combined with the investigation by the public security organs, the driver did not do it intentionally.

according to the family of the driver involved, jiang, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, said that jiang suddenly turned the steering wheel to the right while the car was driving and felt something was pressed, causing the car to bump. jiang said "something happened" and stopped the car immediately. he got out to check and called 110 and 120.

the worker was looking from inside the car, and the dashcam also showed that jiang was driving normally at the time, and there were people riding on both sides of the road. the child riding on the opposite side was hit by the bicycle of his companion, and then fell in front of the moving car and was run over by the car. the driver had no time to react and avoid. the dashcam of the car involved showed that the car was traveling at about 52km/h, and the bicycle meter showed that the speed once exceeded 37 kilometers per hour.

zhu pingsheng believes that from a factual perspective, if the child fell down suddenly and the driver had no time to react, the requirements for the driver are actually harsh. if there is another possibility that the child has been lying on the ground for a while and the driver was negligent and ran over him, this is more serious. then, the second situation is considered a traffic accident crime, which is a legal decision. if the local police are entangled in which road may not be a road, it makes sense to determine it as a crime of negligent homicide.

zhou zhaocheng relayed the views of the driver involved. the driver said that he was driving the car normally and was not speeding at the time. at the time of the incident, he could not foresee a child riding a bicycle rushing over from the opposite lane. so he was still deeply confused and innocent about being accused of a crime. he also said that he did not run away after the incident, but chose to call the police and find a way to save the child. he also expressed understanding that the child's relatives forced him to kneel down after the incident, after all, the child unfortunately died.

shouldn't the driver be solely responsible?

it is understood that the section of the road where the accident occurred is the right bank of the nanjuma river, located near nanshangtai village, jiaguang township, rongcheng county. this section of the road has not been completed and accepted, and is not open to traffic, but because it is more convenient, many villagers will choose to drive through this section to go to work. in addition, nearby villagers will go to the bank for a walk, and cyclists also often choose this section of the road.

the family members said that jiang had no idea that the road where the accident occurred was not allowed to be used. "that was the road jiang took to go to work. he could drive directly from the village to the road. there was no sign on the road in their village." the family members said that the road had been repaired for two or three years and that many cars usually passed through it.

figure/current situation of the road section involved

the driver's family also said that the child was indeed crushed to death by jiang, but during the ride, the person who knocked the child down and threw him into the car has no responsibility? doesn't the person who organized the ride have no responsibility? doesn't the road management have no responsibility? why is all the responsibility now borne by the driver?

jiang's defense attorney zhou zhaocheng believes that the "intervening factors and causal relationships" are worth considering in this case.

if a child is riding a bicycle or racing on the road and is under the age of 12, has his father fulfilled his guardianship responsibilities as a guardian? should the organizer of the ride bear the corresponding responsibility? in addition to the driver, should the contractor and builder of the road also bear certain responsibilities for the accident? should they be held responsible for failing to organize the acceptance and transfer of management authority in a timely manner after completion, resulting in a management vacuum on the road?

fu jian, director of henan zejin law firm, analyzed that if the child is under 12 years old and the organizer of the cycling group or team is not aware of it, then the organizer has failed to fulfill the obligation of reasonable review and should bear part of the responsibility. if the cycling group knows that the child is under 12 years old and still allows him to participate in the cycling and an accident occurs, the cycling group needs to bear civil liability, including compensating the victim's losses.

regarding the division of responsibilities and evidence collection. in terms of the division of responsibilities, it is necessary to collect evidence comprehensively, including but not limited to on-site investigation records, surveillance videos, witness testimonies, vehicle inspection reports, etc., in order to clarify the specific cause of the accident and the degree of fault of each party. in particular, key factors such as the driving behavior of the driver involved, the status of the vehicle, whether it was speeding, and whether it violated traffic regulations should be thoroughly investigated. at the same time, it is also necessary to take into account the special status of the road section being "completed but not delivered", and it is necessary to explore whether the construction party and the contracting party have fulfilled their corresponding safety management obligations, whether safety warning signs have been set up, and whether effective protective measures have been taken.

fu jian believes that if the car in this case was not speeding and had taken necessary evasive measures, but still caused the accident due to force majeure, its responsibility may be relatively reduced, but the specific division of responsibility needs to be comprehensively judged by the relevant departments. zhu pingsheng said that from the perspective of civil cases, regardless of whether the driver involved is fully responsible, primarily responsible or not responsible, the driver is a major obligor and the possibility of not being responsible is relatively small.

regardless of whether the car owner bears full or main responsibility for the traffic accident, he or she may need to bear certain civil compensation liability. according to the civil code and other relevant laws and regulations, the car owner needs to pay death compensation, funeral expenses and other expenses.

photo: lawyer and jiang's family

the family of the driver involved, jiang, told reporters that local officials had organized mediation during this period, and their family had tried their best to raise 200,000 yuan in the hope of compensating the family of the deceased, but the money was eventually returned. "we have not been able to meet the family of the deceased, and we hope to apologize in person and do our best to make amends."

jiang's defense lawyer zhou zhaocheng believes that the tragedy was not what everyone wanted. the above factors jointly led to the accident, and each intervening factor had an important impact on the death. therefore, it is worth thinking and discussing whether there is a "substantial causal relationship" between the driver's behavior and the child's death in criminal law.