What kind of vehicle does an electric vehicle that exceeds the standard belong to?

Case Introduction

On December 10, 2022, Zhang Moumou, driving a small car, collided with the victim Wang Moumou, who was driving a two-wheeled electric vehicle. Wang Moumou was injured and died despite hospital rescue efforts. Upon the commission of the traffic police brigade of a certain district for vehicle attribute appraisal, the electric bike driven by Wang Moumou exceeded the standard and was identified as an electric two-wheeled light motorcycle (motor vehicle). Later, the public security authorities determined that both parties were equally responsible for the accident on the grounds that Wang Moumou was driving an unlicensed electric two-wheeled light motorcycle without a motor vehicle driving license. The victim, Wang Moumou, is an employee of a certain company. In September 2022, the company insured him with group accidental injury insurance from a certain insurance company.

After the accident, the relatives of Wang Moumou went to the insurance company to claim compensation. The insurance company refused to pay on the grounds that Wang Moumou's driving of a motor vehicle without a license plate was an exemption situation. Our side represented the relatives of Wang Moumou to Sue the insurance company, and the two sides formed a lawsuit. Now, let's follow Lawyer Wu Shengli from Jinyan Law Firm to learn about the case handling process together!

The first instance situation

The group accidental injury insurance purchased by a certain company for Wang Moumou from an insurance company is legal and valid. In this case, the insurance company refused to compensate on the grounds that the insured, Wang Moumou, died or became disabled due to accidental injury while driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver's license or driving a motor vehicle without a valid vehicle registration certificate, and the insurance company would not bear the insurance liability as stipulated in the insurance liability exemption clause. And this is based on the determination made by the public security organ in the road traffic accident determination document that Wang Moumou was driving an unlicensed electric two-wheeled light motorcycle without a motor vehicle driving license. The public security authorities' handling of the accident by including the two-wheeled electric vehicle driven by Wang Moumou in the category of motor vehicles (electric two-wheeled mopeds) based on the relevant parameters meeting the type standards of motor vehicles (electric two-wheeled mopeds) is merely a determination made in the administrative management field in accordance with administrative regulations regarding the two-wheeled electric vehicle involved in the traffic accident. As for whether two-wheeled electric vehicles are classified as motor vehicles, whether drivers should hold motor vehicle driving licenses when driving them, and whether they need to apply for vehicle registration certificates, there are currently no explicit mandatory provisions in China's laws and administrative regulations. In practice, two-wheeled electric vehicles cannot be registered with motor vehicle license plates or insured with compulsory traffic insurance like motor vehicles. In this case, the insurance company did not make a clear agreement at the time of underwriting that two-wheeled electric vehicles are classified as motor vehicles. According to Article 30 of the Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, "Where an insurance contract is concluded using the standard terms provided by the insurer, and there is a dispute over the terms of the contract between the insurer and the policyholder, the insured or the beneficiary, it shall be interpreted in accordance with the common understanding." Where there are two or more interpretations of a contract term, the people's court or the arbitration institution shall make an interpretation favorable to the insured and the beneficiary. Therefore, whether the vehicle in question is a motor vehicle should be interpreted in favor of the insured. That is, the vehicle in question does not fall under the motor vehicle as stipulated in the insurer's liability exemption clause of this case. Thus, the court ruled that the insurance company shall bear the liability for compensation. The insurance company was dissatisfied and filed an appeal.

The situation of the second instance

The two-wheeled electric vehicle driven by Wang Moumou at the time of the accident, although it was recorded by the traffic management department in the "Road Traffic Accident Determination Document" as being appraised as a motor vehicle and recognized as such, this determination was made by the traffic management department from an administrative management perspective after the accident and cannot be used as the basis for determining that the vehicle was a motor vehicle in compliance with the insurance contract. If the two-wheeled electric vehicle involved in the case falls within the category of motor vehicles that the public is familiar with and that require a valid driver's license, the traffic management department does not need to go through an appraisal procedure to determine the attributes of the vehicle. Moreover, according to the current management regulations and policies, two-wheeled electric vehicles are not included in the category of motor vehicles that require a driver's license. In practice, two-wheeled electric vehicles are also unable to obtain a motor vehicle driving license and gain true motor vehicle status. Therefore, judging from the comprehension of ordinary people, the term "driving a motor vehicle without a legal and valid driver's license" as stipulated in the insurance contract should be interpreted as a narrow sense of motor vehicle that is consistent in form, substance and approval procedures.

According to Article 30 of the Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, in the absence of a clear interpretation of the standards for recognizing motor vehicles in the insurance contract involved in this case, the first-instance court's interpretation of the insurance terms in favor of the insured was not inappropriate. Therefore, the appeal grounds of the insurance company are not supported. The appeal was dismissed and the original judgment was upheld.

In the case of the motor vehicle traffic accident liability dispute where the relatives of Wang Moumou filed a lawsuit demanding compensation for various personal losses from defendants such as Zhang Moumou, the court, based on the appraisal result, determined that the two-wheeled electric vehicle was a motor vehicle, and the proportion of liability for losses exceeding the compulsory traffic insurance was each 50%. According to the guiding opinions of the Higher People's Court of Henan Province, if a two-wheeled electric vehicle is determined to be a non-motor vehicle, Zhang Moumou should bear 60% of the compensation liability.

The same traffic accident, two cases with different causes of action, and the same electric vehicle, due to different vehicle attribute determinations, have different trial results, which is truly lamentable.

Case summary

In real life, there are many traffic accidents caused by driving non-compliant electric vehicles. Therefore, if the party involved is a two-wheeled electric vehicle and knows that the third-party liability insurance coverage of the motor vehicle party is very high, they should try to negotiate with the motor vehicle party not to conduct a vehicle attribute assessment; otherwise, the compensation amount will be reduced. Conversely, if the insurance claim limit is small, the motor vehicle party will definitely request the public security organ to entrust an appraisal institution to conduct this appraisal to strive for a smaller compensation. Especially when the victim dies, the motor vehicle party must insist on doing so to avoid possibly bearing criminal responsibility for the crime of causing a traffic accident.

Introduction to lawyers

Lawyer Wu Shengli is a practicing lawyer at Jinyan Law Firm.

With over 20 years of practice, I am proficient in criminal cases, civil and commercial cases, and non-litigation legal services. He/She was once awarded the title of Outstanding Lawyer of Jiaozuo City.

Contact Information

Telephone: 13938159795

Email: 1723654383@qq.com