Who is responsible for the fire truck hitting a private car that was illegally parked?
The traffic control department determined that the owner of the private car bears full responsibility, and the fire department does not need to compensate
□ Our reporter Huang Hui
□ Zhou Xiaoqing, a trainee reporter of this newspaper
Recently, a video of "Illegally parked Land Rover was hit by a fire truck" has been widely circulated on the Internet, attracting the attention of a large number of netizens.
The incident happened at the intersection of Jiandeguan Street and Yuanming North Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province.
The video shows that at an intersection, several fire trucks on a rescue mission whistled past, and a blue Land Rover was illegally parked on the side, with serious damage to the front and rear.
Urban parking has become a problem for car owners.
When no parking space is available, for some owners, the fire exit becomes the "sweet spot".
However, when a fire broke out, the consequences of the occupied fire exits were unbearable, and incidents of fire trucks hitting private cars occasionally occurred.
Who is responsible for the fire truck hitting a private car that was illegally parked in the road?
Who should compensate for the loss of fire trucks and private cars caused by this?
Around these issues, the "Rules of Law Daily" reporter launched an in-depth investigation.
Jiandeguan Street is located in the old city of Nanchang and is a well-known hot pot food street.
On April 8, reporters came to the incident site to find out.
"The back of the parked Land Rover occupied half of the corner of the lane. If it was a small car, it could barely pass, but the fire truck was big and wide, and it would definitely be difficult to pass without hitting it." A nearby merchant told reporters that Jiandeguan The street is a back alley, not a main road. It was originally not wide, and there was indeed a shortage of parking spaces around.
Before the incident, the roadside shop owner had reminded Land Rover owners that parking was not allowed here.
According to roadside merchants, at around 12 noon on April 5, several fire trucks were heading for a residential building for fire rescue. When they turned left from Yuanming North Road and entered Jiandeguan Street, a Land Rover stopped illegally. Block the way, the fire truck can't turn.
The firefighters reminded many times, but the owner did not appear, so the fire truck drove the Land Rover directly through.
After the Land Rover was hit, the head of the car was propped on a tree by the roadside and was severely deformed. The rear windshield was also completely broken, and the rear of the car was smashed.
"On the one hand, there is emergency rescue, and on the other hand, the owner cannot be contacted. Private cars are illegally parked and occupy the fire passage. For emergency rescue, fire trucks can be forced to drive." A traffic policeman on duty in Donghu District, Nanchang City said.
Regarding the follow-up handling of the incident, the reporter learned from the Nanchang traffic police that in the afternoon of the incident, the traffic police department issued an accident responsibility determination letter for the damaged vehicle, delimiting the Land Rover owner to bear full responsibility.
The owner of the Land Rover also said that he was fully responsible for the incident and would not file a claim with the fire department. The vehicle that was hit has been sent for repair.
In addition, the part of the fire truck was slightly damaged, and the Land Rover owner will bear this part of the compensation according to the division of responsibilities.
"Illegal acts of occupying and blocking fire truck passages must be strictly investigated and dealt with." The relevant person in charge of the Nanchang Public Security Traffic Management Bureau said that when a fire occurs, rescue is urgent, and the blockage of fire passages hinders the pace of rescue. Every passing second means that more lives are in danger, and every minute and second can avoid more losses and save more lives.
It is understood that in order to effectively strengthen the management of fire passages, Nanchang traffic police and multiple departments continue to carry out special fire passage management actions to ensure that the "life passage" is unobstructed.
Since September 2021, Nanchang City has carried out joint law enforcement more than 100 times, used more than 3,200 wrecker vehicles, educated and persuaded 8,200 illegal parking drivers, punished more than 5,800 vehicles occupying fire exits, and towed more than 2,000 vehicles.
In reality, it is not uncommon for fire trucks to be helpless and angry because of private cars blocking the road.
According to media reports, on the morning of July 9, 2018, a fire broke out in the kitchen on the 25th floor of a high-rise residential building in Nanchong, Sichuan. The fire department urgently dispatched 4 fire trucks to put out the fire. There are still car owners to move the car in the future.
As a result, a fire truck swept away the private car blocking the road, ensuring that the rescue vehicles behind could pass.
Judging from the live video, there are signs saying "This passage is a fire passage, and parking is prohibited in front of the door" at many places in the incident section. After a silver car was swept away, the rear of the car was scratched and slightly dented, and the front of a red car was already It was smashed, and passers-by took pictures and applauded.
Passersby applauded, which to a certain extent reflected public opinion's condemnation of the act of blocking fire escapes and support for the act of colliding with vehicles in the road to the fire.
So, do firefighters have the right to hit a private car in this situation?
"The responsibility of such traffic accident cases lies entirely with the owner of the illegal parking." Wang Zhuguo, a professor at the Law School of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with reporters that Article 53 of the Road Traffic Safety Law stipulates that when fire trucks perform emergency tasks, they shall ensure safety when performing emergency tasks. Under the premise that other vehicles and pedestrians should give way without being restricted by the driving route, driving direction, driving speed and signal lights.
"Combined with the illegal parking owner, the first violation of the law, so the illegal parking owner should bear full responsibility, and the traffic police department also made a responsibility determination based on this." Wang Zhuguo said that according to Articles 28 and 60 of the Fire Protection Law, any unit, individual No occupation, blockage or closure of fire truck passages is allowed. If an individual commits this illegal act and obstructs the passage of fire trucks, a warning or a fine of not more than 500 yuan will be imposed.
According to Article 50 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, whoever obstructs the passage of fire trucks performing urgent tasks shall be given a warning or a fine of not more than 200 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be detained for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan. .
"Fire trucks perform rescue tasks, which are acts of state organs (fire rescue departments) and state organ staff (fire rescue personnel) exercising their powers. According to the second paragraph of Article 5 of the State Compensation Law, the state shall not Liability for compensation: the damage occurred due to the actions of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.” Wang Zhuguo said that in this case, Land Rover illegally occupying the fire truck passage was the direct cause of the damage, so the fire department did not bear the responsibility for compensation.
"Private cars illegally occupy the fire truck passage, and fire trucks have the right to take extraordinary measures when performing emergency tasks. If the fire truck is damaged as a result, the private car owner should also bear civil liability for compensation." Wang Zhuguo said.