A SHENZHEN resident surnamed Liu has been suffering from chest pain since a car accident he was in while a Didi designated driver was driving last month, but neither the driver nor the car-hailing company have paid all of his medical expenses so far.

    Liu called a designated driver using the Didi Chuxing app on the night of May 25. A driver surnamed Huang took the order. A rear-end collision took place when Huang was driving through a tunnel in Luohu District. “The driver was not injured, but I was injured from the collision even though I sat in the back seat,” said Liu.

    After the incident, Liu contacted Didi Chuxing and was told that the costs to fix both cars were covered by Didi Chuxing, but Liu did not get any compensation for his injury. “Now the car is fixed, but the left side of my chest has still not recovered and I have to go to the hospital to get an injection every day,” said Liu.

    Rounds of negotiations did not help. “Didi said that it was my own affair to seek medical treatment and they only compensated me 2,000 yuan (US$303) including some transportation expenses,” said Liu.

    The Didi company responded a few days ago that it would compensate Liu according to insurance procedures. As for Liu’s financial loss due to absence from work, the company said it needs Liu’s tax records to apply to the insurance company.

    Conflicts have been occurring between passengers and drivers who offer car-on-demand services recently. Two women, Gao and Lu, who shared an Uber ride on the afternoon of June 2, were hurt in a traffic accident, but the traffic police said the other car was at fault. Though the Uber driver was not required to shoulder any legal responsibilities, the two passengers think that if the driver had driven at a slower speed, the accident would not have happened.

    Staffers from Uber later responded that drivers signed contracts with their company and were required to go through a training program before being approved to work as an Uber driver. Uber said that it would shoulder responsibilities according to the law.

    Li Zhiguo, a lawyer from the Guangdong Hongshang Law Firm, said insurance companies can refuse to settle the claims as the accidents were caused by private cars being used for business. Deng Xianghua with Guangdong Lawyer Association said that whether the car-hailing companies should take responsibility or not depends on if the drivers were to blame for the accident. (Zhang Qian)