In the case of dispute over liability for personal injury at sea between Li X, Wei
X, Liu X as the plaintiffs and Xu X as the defendant33, Xu X hired Sang X to
drive the motorboats at Dalian Changxing Island Beach and charged tourists to
experience the motorboat sailing at sea. In the sea ride process, the motorboat
driven by Sang X cut Liu XX with an injury in the head who was swimming in
the sea, and Liu XX died despite emergency rescue efforts. In accordance with the
employer’s liability provided in Paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Interpretation of
the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law
in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases, Sang X was responsible for
the accident, and Xu X as an employer bore the tort liability. In addition, Article 26
of the Tort Liability Law of the People’s Republic of China provides that, “Where
the infringee is also attributable to the damage, the liability of the infringer may
be mitigated.” Although the maritime accident report made by the administrative
organ held that Liu XX was not obviously at fault as a tourist, the Court held that
in the case of several motorboats sailing on the sea, Liu XX should know the
danger of swimming and take necessary protection and warning measures. Liu XX
didn’t take necessary warning measures, and was at fault for the accident, too. The
Court ruled that Xu X’s liability as the infringer was reduced by 10%.