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in september, primary and secondary schools across the country have started classes. many teenagers will ride bicycles to and from school. so, what should parents pay attention to when taking their children to ride bicycles? how to ensure the safety of minors riding bicycles?

teenagers must be at least 12 years old to ride on the road

in recent years, the phenomenon of younger and more parent-child-oriented urban cycling culture has become increasingly prominent. on e-commerce platforms, children's electric motorcycles, children's electric bicycles and even children's fuel motorcycles are popular.you can buy it at will, and there is no reminder of the riding age in the product display details. qin pengbo, assistant judge of the haidian district people's court of beijing, said,these all pose hidden dangers to the riding safety of minors.

qin pengbo introduced that the "regulations for the implementation of the road traffic safety law of the people's republic of china" (hereinafter referred to as the "regulations") stipulates the legal age for cycling:

• to drive a bicycle or tricycle, you must be at least 12 years old;
• drivers of electric bicycles and motorized wheelchairs must be at least 16 years old.

the age limit for riding on the road is mainly due to the fact that minors have weaker control over the vehicle and are unable to judge complex road traffic conditions. according to the accident case data analysis conducted by the road traffic safety research center of the ministry of public security,in recent years, people under the age of 12 riding bicycles and people under the age of 16 riding electric bicycles accounted for 7.5% and 10.3% of cycling accidents respectively.

after reviewing past judgment documents, the judges of the haidian district court found that in cases involving minors who were injured in traffic activities, on the one hand, there were characteristics of accidents such as the high incidence of accidents during peak travel hours in the morning and evening, young children being more vulnerable to traffic accidents, and some minors being seriously injured; on the other hand, there were characteristics of accidents such as minors’ lack of driving experience and traffic safety awareness, lack of ability to deal with accidents and to fix evidence, and poor supervision by guardians. “minors have weak safety awareness and know little about traffic laws and regulations. when driving electric bicycles, they often violate laws such as driving in the wrong direction, carrying passengers, occupying motor vehicle lanes at will, and changing lanes at will.”

it is worth noting that even if parents drive motorcycles, they cannot send their children to and from school at will. article 55 of the regulations stipulates thatminors under the age of 12 are not allowed to ride on the back seat of a motorcycle, and mopeds are not allowed to carry passengers. in other words, if it is an ordinary motorcycle with a yellow license plate and the child is over 12 years old, parents can drive the motorcycle to take their children to and from school.

if you are under the legal age and get into an accident, you may be held responsible

qin pengbo particularly emphasized thatif a minor under the age of 12 rides on the road and an accident occurs, he or she will also be held responsible.

in june 2020, 10-year-old hu xiaobing (pseudonym) was riding a bicycle on his way home from school when he collided with wang jun (pseudonym) who was riding an electric bicycle. the traffic accident caused hu xiaobing to be injured and the contact parts of the vehicles to be damaged. the traffic management department of the public security agency determined that wang jun failed to fulfill his duty of care when driving the electric bicycle and was fully responsible for the accident, and hu xiaobing was not responsible. hu xiaobing's injuries were assessed to be a grade 10 disability. hu xiaobing then sued wang jun for compensation for losses.

the court held that hu xiaobing was under 12 years old when he rode his bicycle on the road, and his guardian did not stop him in time, so hu xiaobing should bear part of the responsibility for his losses. the court finally ruled that wang jun should bear the main responsibility and compensate hu xiaobing for his reasonable losses, and hu xiaobing and his guardian should bear part of the losses themselves.

since the traffic control department has determined that wang jun was fully responsible for the accident and hu xiaobing was not responsible, why did the court order hu xiaobing and his guardian to bear part of the losses? in this regard, qin pengbo explained that traffic accident liability is not completely equivalent to civil law compensation liability.therefore, the traffic accident identification certificate cannot be used as the sole basis for the allocation of liability in civil tort damages cases. the degree of fault of the actor in the tort should be comprehensively determined in accordance with the actual circumstances of the case and the principle of attribution in civil litigation.

in order to prevent the phenomenon of riding on the road before the legal age, qin pengbo suggested that parents of minors should fulfill their guardianship responsibilities, strengthen supervision of their children's transportation methods, and guide their children to travel safely through family education and other means.

how to compensate for damages caused to others

how should minors compensate for damages caused to others while riding?

qin pengbo introduced that the civil code of my country stipulates the responsibilities of guardians. if a person without civil capacity or a person with limited civil capacity causes damage to others, the guardian shall bear the tort liability. if the guardian fulfills his guardianship duties, his tort liability can be reduced. if a person without civil capacity or a person with limited civil capacity who has property causes damage to others, the compensation shall be paid from his own property; the remaining part shall be compensated by the guardian.

therefore, qin pengbo suggested that in order to cultivate minors' risk awareness and sense of responsibility, after a traffic accident occurs, compensation should first be paid from the child's new year's money or his or her own property.

what needs attention is that although the civil code of my country stipulates that when a minor infringes upon another’s rights, the parents as guardians shall bear the alternative compensation liability. however, if the minor infringes upon another’s rights and the compensation liability has not been fully fulfilled after becoming an adult, can the actual infringer be added as the person to be executed and have the actual infringer fulfill the compensation obligation? this has also sparked extensive discussion in the legal practice community.

qin pengbo said that the law does not clearly stipulate whether a minor can be added as a person to be executed after he or she becomes an adult. in a 2019 execution ruling, the supreme people's court held that the execution should be analyzed in combination with the content of the execution basis, and it cannot be simply rejected without simply concluding that the judicial interpretation does not contain it. the court should seek the opinion of the trial department in writing before making a ruling.

"therefore, the compensation liability of minors will not be completely exempted from the matter simply because they are minors. age is not a shield," said qin pengbo.

strengthening the safety of young people's cycling requires joint efforts from all parties

at a press conference on "the trial of cases involving minors who were injured in traffic activities", the beijing second intermediate people's court mentioned that some adults who participated in traffic activities had weak awareness of traffic safety, other dangerous behaviors during driving, and insufficient vigilance when driving in areas where minors often move around. for example, when driving a car or riding an electric bike, they played with their mobile phones, made phone calls, and other behaviors that hindered safe driving, did not reduce speed and pay attention when passing through roads around campuses, were not vigilant enough when driving in areas where minors gathered, and did not ride non-motor vehicles in designated lanes. these behaviors, to varying degrees, have laid hidden dangers for accidents.

"therefore, the key to reducing cycling accidents involving minors lies in adults who act as guardians and adults who participate in traffic travel," said qin pengbo.

a judge from the haidian district court suggested that in daily life, guardians must keep safety at the "first line of defense" and effectively perform their guardianship duties. they must strengthen the education of minors who are 12 years of age or older who can ride bicycles and 16 years of age or older who can ride electric bicycles, understand their travel routes and destinations, and promptly stop them from violating traffic regulations, such as following in groups of adults or riding competitively.

in addition, before minors set out on a ride, parents should conduct a comprehensive inspection of all bicycle components, especially to see whether the brakes are sensitive and reliable. it should be noted that minors are not encouraged to ride high-speed non-motorized vehicles such as mountain bikes and road bikes with speed change functions, especially on public roads.

schools should set up special cycling classes to teach children the correct way to ride, teach them various traffic rules, cultivate a mature cycling mentality, correctly handle various emergencies encountered during cycling, and increase minors' risk management and self-rescue capabilities.

at the same time, minors themselves should also enhance their awareness of traffic safety, strengthen their study of traffic safety laws and regulations, choose appropriate means of transportation, pay attention to their own safety, and travel in a civilized manner. in addition, the traffic management department should impose penalties on those who ride on the road under the legal age. for example, if an adult leads a person under the legal age to ride, the adult will be penalized with points or fines.

(source: legal daily)