The garage of a certain residential community is a multi-level parking facility. Mr. Hu (a pseudonym) drove back to the community and, without noticing that Ms. Zhang (a pseudonym) had not yet finished parking, reached out from his car to operate the vehicle lift button, resulting in a scratch on Ms. Zhang's right lower leg and damage to the left side door of the vehicle. Since the vehicle was marital property of Ms. Zhang and her husband, the couple filed a lawsuit requesting that Mr. Hu and the property management center cover vehicle repair costs, transportation expenses, and other damages totaling over 50,000 yuan.
After trial, the Haidian Court determined that Mr. Hu bore 70% of the responsibility, the property management center 20%, and the plaintiffs 10%. The court ruled that Mr. Hu should compensate for economic losses of over 30,000 yuan and the property management center should compensate for economic losses of 10,000 yuan.
Case Summary
The couple stated that after Ms. Zhang parked her car and opened the left door to get out, Mr. Hu, while she had not safely left the parking space, did not get out of his car and reached in to operate the lift mechanism. At that time, the garage had no warning signs. The parking space ascended, the car door was compressed, and Ms. Zhang was thrown from the parking space, suffering multiple injuries and emotional distress. The property management center did not assign dedicated parking space personnel as required and failed to fulfill its safety obligations, and the couple requested that Mr. Hu and the property management center compensate for losses exceeding 50,000 yuan.
Mr. Hu argued that the accident was mainly caused by the property management center failing to fulfill its management duties, not hiring personnel to operate the mechanical parking equipment, and not installing pre-warning devices such as human-vehicle intrusion detection, and that there was no regulation requiring him to get out of the car to operate it.
The property management center argued that the garage equipment is legal and compliant, does not require an operator, and owners have long operated it themselves and are familiar with the operation procedures. After parking, Ms. Zhang immediately left without observing her surroundings, and Mr. Hu did not observe the garage and did not get out to operate the lift, and thus both should bear responsibility.
The court tried it
After trial, the court held that in this case, the traffic management department did not determine the responsibility for the accident. The court determined the liability of all parties based on the existing evidence and compensated for the maintenance of the vehicle and traffic losses in accordance with the proportion of liability. During the parking process, Mr. Hu did not get out of the car to observe the garage situation, such as whether other vehicles were parked, whether relevant personnel were staying in the car, etc., so he directly operated the stop button in the driver's seat, neglecting to observe, which directly led to the occurrence of the accident and should bear the main responsibility. As the management of the three-dimensional parking garage with complex operation and use, the property center should fulfill its responsibility of diligent management, remind and explain to the owner about the standardized use of equipment and the potential safety hazards during the use of the garage. For Ms. Zhang, she did not fully observe the surrounding situation before opening the car door, and she did not leave the vehicle involved in the case for nearly a minute after parking the vehicle, which increased the chance of the parking space rising and even the risk of accidents caused by others operating the stop button, so she should also bear part of the responsibility. Since the vehicle involved in the case was the joint property of Ms. Zhang and Mr. Li, the actual driver, Ms. Zhang, should be held liable for the plaintiff's own fault. Considering the faults of all parties, the court determined that Mr. Hu bears 70% of the responsibility, the property center bears 20% of the responsibility, and the plaintiff bears 10% of the responsibility. Combined with the plaintiff's evidence, the total loss of maintenance costs and transportation expenses of the vehicle involved in the case was 51,608.88 yuan, of which the property center was borne by 36,216.22 yuan, and Mr. Hu was responsible for 10,321.78 yuan of it. The court finally made the above judgment.
After the verdict was pronounced, Ms. Zhang and her husband appealed, and the court of second instance upheld the original verdict. The judgment is now in effect.
The judge explained the law
The three-dimensional parking garage belongs to the "mechanical parking equipment" stipulated in the national "Special Equipment Catalogue", and the operation and use are more complicated, and the slightest carelessness will lead to tragedy. In this case, Mr. Hu neglected to observe, Ms. Zhang did not pay attention to the surrounding situation when he got out of the car, and the property company failed to fulfill its management responsibilities.
A lesson from the front car, a teacher from the back. The property company and the owner can work together to keep the safety red line of the three-dimensional parking garage. As the manager of the garage, the property owner should carry out strict management of the equipment in all aspects, such as hiring a special person to manage the garage, so as to clarify the job responsibilities; Regular inspections to eliminate potential safety hazards; Fully inform the owner of the possible hidden dangers of the equipment and improve the awareness of standardized use. In addition, the installation of intelligent early warning devices such as pedestrian and vehicle misentry detection devices at the entrance can also help the safe and orderly use of the garage. As a user of the three-dimensional garage, the owner should understand that the three-dimensional parking garage is different from the ground parking garage, and there are certain risks in the operation. Before operating the garage by yourself, you should fully observe whether there are any stranded people and whether the doors of vehicles in the garage are closed.