Introduction to the case

    In the evening of October 2022, Mr. Z and Mr. W had a dinner and drank alcohol. After the dinner, Mr. Z sent Mr. W to the gate of the community where Mr. W lived and left on his own. At 23:00 that night, when Mr. Z was driving on an electric bicycle after being drunk, the front of the vehicle hit a tree, causing damage to the contact part of the vehicle and injuring Mr. Z. After the traffic detachment issued the "Road Traffic Accident Identification Certificate", it was determined that Mr. Z was fully responsible for the fault of drunk driving, driving non-motor vehicles and accumulators. The next day, Mr. Z went to the hospital for treatment and was diagnosed with closed craniocerebral injury (medium-sized), brain contusion, subdural hematoma, multiple skull fractures, subcutaneous hematoma, scalp laceration, and facial soft tissue contusion. He was hospitalized for 9 days.

    After being discharged from the hospital, Mr. Z believed that Mr. W failed to fulfill his safety obligations after the dinner and sent him back to his residence, causing him to fall to the ground and suffer injuries to his vehicle. Therefore, he sued Mr. W to the court, demanding that Mr. W compensate him for his medical expenses, post-inspection expenses, nursing expenses, missed work expenses, vehicle maintenance expenses, and mental damage compensation totaling more than 47,000 yuan.

Lawyer intervention

    After Mr. W and Mr. Z failed to communicate many times, they came to Beijing Rude Law Firm for help.

    Beijing Rude Law Firm assigned lawyer Ma Yingying and intern lawyer Fu Duo to handle the case.

    Lawyer Ma Yingying graduated from China University of Political Science and Law with a Master of Laws degree. Providing legal advisory services for all kinds of enterprises, providing legal consulting services for enterprises; Drafting, reviewing and revising various legal affairs documents, participating in the negotiation of major contracts; Targeted training for business personnel to improve their legal awareness and risk prevention awareness; Assisting the personnel department of enterprises to carry out work, etc. Since practicing, he has handled a large number of labor dispute cases, and his serious and responsible attitude has been well received by customers.

    Fu Duo trainee lawyer graduated from the Law School of Heilongjiang University, passed the National Unified Legal Vocational Qualification Examination with high marks, has a solid foundation in legal theory, and is able to skillfully use legal language to write and modify documents. During the internship, he assisted practicing lawyers to communicate with clients, conduct case sorting, court litigation and other business, and assisted practicing lawyers to modify the contract of the legal consultant unit and consult on legal issues. Serious and attentive, pay attention to details, be good at communication and exchange, and strive to provide legal protection for the parties and provide better legal services.

Case handling process

    After Ma Yingying and Fu Duo's trainee lawyers received the case, they quickly and accurately judged the relevant materials and ideas required for the lawsuit. They believed that after the dinner, Mr. W took into account that Mr. Z drank beer, and for safety reasons, he had made a good reminder to dissuade Mr. Z's behavior of riding an electric car home after drinking. And the location of the dinner can be reached within a 5-minute walk from the community where both parties live, and the time and place of the traffic accident have no causal relationship with the dinner. After a detailed analysis of the case and relevant evidence, Ma Yingying and Fu Duo's trainee lawyers were fully prepared for the court session.

Case outcome

    With the efforts of Ma Yingying and Fu Duo's trainee lawyers, the court finally rejected all of Mr. Z's claims, and Rude Law Firm successfully safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the parties!

Lawyer reminder

    In joint drinking occasions, co-drinkers have appropriate safety attention obligations to each other, including mutual reminder, advice, notification, assistance, care, etc., to reduce safety risks, but such safety attention obligations should be limited to the cognitive level and behavioral ability of ordinary people. Predictability is the boundary of co-drinkers' responsibility, and co-drinkers should not be held responsible for the damage consequences caused by unforeseen emergencies. As far as the co-drinkers are concerned, if there are the following improper acts in advance, they should bear the corresponding duty of care, and if the damage results are caused, they should bear the tort liability: first, the behavior of persuading the drinker, toasting, gambling, punishing the drinker, etc., resulting in the loss of physical health and even life of the co-drinker; second, although there is no active persuasion of alcohol, the excessive drinking behavior of the co-drinker is not reminded or stopped; third, the co-drinker is not promptly sent to the hospital for treatment or the drunk is not properly and safely disposed of; fourth, the behavior of failing to promptly and effectively dissuade the co-drinker from drinking and driving.

    If there is a dispute after drinking together, it is best to safeguard your own interests through legal channels, and try to find a professional team of lawyers for consultation and rights protection. This will not only reduce the time cost, but also achieve satisfactory results as much as possible.