Traffic Accident Claims — the Legal Grounds
After a traffic accident, a claim for compensation is built on two grounds. One is the general rule — Article 992: a person who causes damage to another person by an unlawful, intentional or negligent act is obliged to compensate that damage. The other is a special norm for transport relationships — Article 999: the owner of a vehicle intended for the carriage of passengers and goods must, if the operation of the vehicle entailed the death of a person, disablement or impairment of health, or damage to a thing, compensate the injured party for the damage arising therefrom. Together these two norms create the framework by which the victim determines whom to claim from and what to demand.
Moreover, these norms work in coordination: the general fault rule covers everyone who contributes to the accident, while the transport rule ties liability to the source of operation. Therefore the first stage of the case is a precise distribution of the roles of all participants: who drove, who owned the vehicle, who was entrusted with its operation and which act caused the damage. The answers to these questions predetermine how successful the claim will be and against whom it must be brought.
When the Vehicle Owner's Liability Does Not Apply
Article 999 names precisely the cases where the owner's duty to compensate does not apply: where the cargo being carried is damaged, except where a passenger carries it with him; and where a thing accepted by the owner of the vehicle for safekeeping is damaged. Nor does the duty apply where the damage is caused by force majeure — except where the damage arose during the operation of air transport. A separate rule concerns unauthorized use: if a person uses a vehicle without the owner's permission, he must compensate the damage in the owner's place; but the owner is also liable if the use of the vehicle became possible due to his fault. An exception is also the case where the user was appointed by the owner to drive the vehicle, or where the vehicle was transferred to him by the owner. Knowing these details determines who the liable party is in a concrete case.
The Form of Compensation — Restoration of the Previous Situation
Article 408 provides that the person obliged to compensate damage must restore the situation that would have existed had the circumstance giving rise to the duty of compensation not occurred. For bodily injury or harm to health the rule is more concrete: if the victim's capacity to work was taken away or reduced, or his needs have increased, the damage must be compensated by payment of a monthly allowance. The victim is entitled to demand treatment costs in advance — the same rule applies where professional retraining becomes necessary. Instead of an allowance the victim may claim a lump-sum compensation, where a significant ground for it exists. This answers the real needs of life after an accident: treatment, retraining and compensation for lost earning capacity.