4 teenagers driving the wrong way died on the highway: Whose responsibility is it?

The Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee has just signed an urgent document to relevant agencies, units and localities to overcome the consequences of a particularly serious traffic accident that killed four teenagers on the Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway on the afternoon of February 14 (the 5th day of Tet).

The Chairman of Lao Cai province requested the provincial police to urgently investigate, verify and clarify the cause of the accident and strictly handle violating organizations and individuals according to the provisions of the law.

Regarding the incident, Dr. and lawyer Dang Van Cuong, Head of Chinh Phap Law Office, said that according to Article 26 of the Road Traffic Law, highways are roads reserved for motor vehicles only, and motorbikes, motorbikes and other means of transport with a design capacity of less than 70km/h are strictly prohibited from entering the highway.

"Motorbikes going the wrong way on the highway is no different from committing suicide and endangering others. Therefore, drivers of cars on the highway who cause accidents with motorbikes going the wrong way will not normally be held legally responsible," said lawyer Cuong.

According to Mr. Cuong, vehicles on the highway can travel at 100km/h, even up to 120km/h, so if an accident occurs, the consequences will be very serious.

In this accident that killed four teenagers, according to the lawyer, the authorities will investigate to clarify the cause of the incident, especially the driver's fault. However, because four people on the motorbike (two people on each motorbike) died, criminal responsibility will not be imposed on the two motorbike drivers.

If no fault is found, the car driver will not be held criminally responsible. To determine whether the car driver is at fault, the investigating agency will clarify the driver's ability to observe and control speed.

If a car driver is not careful and does not control his speed, leading to a traffic accident with a motorbike going in the opposite direction or a car going in reverse, the driver in this situation is still at fault.

In fact, the clip recording the accident shows that the motorbike was going in the opposite direction from the curve, affecting the driver's ability to see. Therefore, lawyer Dang Van Cuong said that it is difficult to find fault with the driver's ability to see in this situation.

Thus, the authorities will clarify the speed of the car to determine whether the car is going over the speed limit (100km/h) or not.

In addition, in this case, the fault of the motorcyclist is clear, but if the investigation results show that the car driver is also at fault but not the main fault, not necessarily leading to the accident, then the car driver will not be prosecuted.

Lawyer Dang Van Cuong also analyzed that only in cases of mixed fault (both parties are at fault and are the cause of the traffic accident) will criminal proceedings be taken against the driver of the car in the above accident situation.