As a result of the traffic accident, can the future prosthetic limb money be compensated together?

Recently, the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court concluded a motor vehicle traffic accident liability dispute case. The court supported the victim's unincurred expenses for assistive devices after he became disabled due to injury, and ordered the infringer to compensate the infringer for a total of more than 295,000 yuan in prosthetic limbs, silicone covers and maintenance costs for the next nine years.

The reporter learned that in this case, in 2020, while riding an electric bicycle, 50-year-old Yang collided with a heavy dump truck driven by Zhang, resulting in the amputation of Yang’s left lower leg. He was identified as a seventh-level disability and required to wear a prosthetic limb for life. The public security and traffic management department determined that Yang was not responsible. Yang sued the court and asked Zhang to compensate for various losses including the cost of long-term prosthetics. Based on the standard that prosthetics should be replaced every three years and silicone covers should be replaced every year, and based on the average life expectancy of Chinese women, she advocated that the future cost of assistive devices for disabled people would be more than 970,000 yuan.

The court held that the prosthetic assembly mechanism provided by Yang provided a reasonable explanation of the condition of the residual limb, configuration opinions, product life cycle, etc., which can be used as a basis for compensation. Taking into account the long period of equipment replacement and the fact that it occurs in stages, in order to reduce the burden of litigation by the parties and make up for the losses in a timely manner, the court temporarily supports the expenses incurred within 3 cycles (9 years). After accounting, including the cost of 3 prosthetic limb assembly, 9 silicone cover replacements and 6 maintenance costs, plus the cost of the first wear, the total amount is more than 295,000 yuan, and Zhang will bear the liability for compensation.

The judge pointed out that the court can support reasonable expenses that will inevitably occur in the future in accordance with the law. Specifically, four factors need to be considered: the age, health status and life expectancy of the victim; the general applicability and industry replacement cycle of assistive devices; the professional opinions issued by forensic appraisal and preparation institutions; and the degree of correlation between disability recovery and device wear and tear. After the compensation period determined by the court, if the victim still needs to continue to use or replace the appliance, he or she can claim additional follow-up expenses to avoid suspension of rights and interests due to insufficient one-time compensation.

The judge reminded that the victim should pay attention to preserving key evidence such as forensic appraisal conclusions, opinions of the preparation agency, and regular review records to prove the necessity of continued reliance on assistive devices. Those who are elderly or whose injuries are unstable may claim to calculate the compensation period in stages. Infringers or insurance companies should pay attention to whether the appliance exceeds common standards and whether the replacement cycle is reasonable, respect professional opinions, and actively fulfill their compensation obligations.

Source: Beijing News (reporter Wu Mengzhen) Beijing News reporter

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