A CAR owner has brought to court a container truck driver demanding 7,000 yuan (US$1,066) in compensation for the depreciation of his car following a traffic accident.
Futian District People s Court heard the case last week but the parties involved failed to reach a settlement following court mediation.
The plaintiff, surnamed Hai, said his car was hit from behind by the container truck on Beihuan Boulevard in July 2010. He lost control of the car and rushed into a median strip before running into another car. Han claimed his car was delivered just four days before the accident.
The car has been fixed, but the negative effect remains, said Han.
An appraisal report tabled by a second-hand car dealer showed Han s car is now worth 18,000 yuan. The car could be worth 25,000 yuan if it had not been damaged in the traffic accident.
The defendant s lawyer said the car dealer is not an authoritative third party, therefore the report could not be used to support the claim for the car s depreciation cost.
During the court mediation, the judge said similar claims had all been rejected by Shenzhen Intermediate People s Court since 2009. A car will depreciate even it is not used and it is hard to determine how much it has depreciated, said the judge.
Deng Xianghua with Shenzhen Lawyers Association said it is worth deliberating how to appraise the loss to car owners when similar incidents happen. (SD News)
