Inexcusable Fault in Road Accidents: Court of Cassation Ruling

Extract

[...] An exclusive causality between the fault and the damage Beyond gravity and the consciousness of the faulty behavior, the Court of Cassation also recalls that the inexcusable fault can only deprive the victim of their right to compensation if it is the exclusive cause of the accident. This critre is essential to understand the solution retained. In fact, as previously indicated, Article 3 of the Law of 5 July 1985 requires that the victim's fault be exclusive, that is, it must have directly and solely caused the accident, without the concurrence of external circumstances. [...]

[...] Thus, since a landmark ruling of 20 July 1987 (Civ. 2° July 1987, Bull. civ. II, n° 160) confirmed by the plenary assembly.was on 10 November 1995 (Cass., ass. plén., n° 94-13.912), the Court of Cassation holds that 'only the voluntary fault of exceptional gravity exposing its author without valid reason to a danger of which he should have been aware is inexcusable within the meaning of Article 3 of the Law of 5 July 1985 ». This definition therefore requires the cumulation of several cumulative elements: the gravity of the behavior, the awareness of the danger and the absence of reasonable justification. [...]

[...] In the springisThis, two minors were cycling at night by bicycle, without lighting or reflective equipment, on a departmental road, even though a cycle path existed. They were hit by a vehicle circulating in the opposite direction and performing a passing maneuver. One of the cyclists died as a result of the accident and the other was injured. The insurer of the driver, assigned to repair the harm suffered by the victims and their heirs, opposed the existence of an inexcusable fault. [...]

[...] This combination of criteriaislimits hypotheticalisthese in which compensation can be waived, ensuring maximum protection for victims while respecting the spirit of the Badinter law. Thus defined by handisstrictly, the inexcusable fault must still be applied with rigor to the circumstances of each case. The analysis of the commented judgment allows to illustrate this requirement through the analysis of the behavior of the victims and its confrontation with a similar case judged on the same day on similar facts. II) The concrete applicationiste des criteriaisres jurisprudentiels The application of critisres dégagés by the jurisprudence shows the rigor with which the inexcusable fault is appreciated. [...]

[...] The victims and their heirs appeal to the cassation. The question posed to the High Jurisdiction was therefore as follows: does the fault committed by minor cyclists, consisting of circulating at night on a departmental road without lighting equipment, constitute an inexcusable fault within the meaning of Article 3 of the Law of 5 July 1985, of a nature to exclude their right to compensation? The Court of Cassation quashed and annulled this decision, considering that the elements found (absence of lighting, knowledge of the place, awareness of the danger) were not sufficient to characterize a voluntary fault of exceptional gravity exposing its author to a danger of which he should have been aware without a valid reason. [...]