Rethink accident compensation

Comment on "Girl in double hit-and-run dies" (China Daily, Oct 22)

The incident was horrible. But to say that Chinese in general have no heart is stupid.

The indifference of the public may be attributed to China's legal system, which could assume an accused guilty and leave the onus on the accused to prove his/her innocence. In many other countries, an accused is presumed innocent till proven guilty by the accused or the state. After the court caused a good Samaritan, Peng Yu, to be proven guilty for something that he had not done, the public felt uneasy to help others.

The government needs to rethink the policy that makes a guilty party pay monetary compensation to a victim or his/her relatives in case of an accident. Perhaps victims should only get access to a general pool of compensation or assistance on a periodic basis rather than getting a lump sum from the guilty party and/or the government compensation pool. It would mean that even if the culprit is not found, the victim could still access the common compensation fund on a periodic basis.

JJ-Sydney-OZ, on China Daily website

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(China Daily 11/01/2011 page9)