Carriage of Passengers by Road Act 1974

Section 1. Personal Injuries

Article 11

1 The carrier shall be liable for loss or damage resulting from the death or wounding of or from any other bodily or mental injury caused to a passenger as the result of an accident connected with the carriage and occurring while the passenger is inside the vehicle or is entering or alighting from the vehicle, or occurring in connection with the loading or unloading of luggage.

2 The carrier shall be relieved of this liability if the accident was caused by circumstances which a carrier, using the diligence which the particular facts of the case called for, could not have avoided and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent.

3 The carrier shall not be relieved of liability by reason of any physical or mental failing of the driver, of any defect in, or malfunctioning of, the vehicle, or of any wrongful act or neglect on the part of the person from whom he may have hired the vehicle or of the persons for whom the latter would have been responsible, in accordance with the provisions of article 4, if he had himself been the carrier.

Article 12

Subject to article 13, paragraph 1, the court or tribunal seized of the case shall determine in accordance with the national law of the place where the said court or tribunal is situated, including the rules relating to conflict of laws, the extent of the injury giving rise to compensation as a result of the death or wounding of or any other bodily or mental injury caused to a passenger as well as what persons are entitled to compensation for such injury.

Article 13

1 The total damages payable by the carrier in respect of the same occurrence shall not exceed 250,000 francs for each victim. Any Contracting State may, however, set a higher limit or set no limit at all. When the carrier has his principal establishment in such a State, or in a non-contracting State whose legislation provides for a higher limit or does not provide for a limit at all, the law of that State, not including the rules relating to conflict of laws, shall apply for the determination of the total amount.

2 The amount referred to in paragraph 1 of this article shall be exclusive of legal or other costs incurred by the parties in asserting their rights, payment or reimbursement of which may devolve on the carrier, and of interest calculated in conformity with the law judged applicable by the court seized of the case.

3 A higher limit may be agreed between the parties to the contract of carriage. Unless the contract provides otherwise, such agreement shall be for the benefit of all persons entitled to compensation.

4 The limitations of damages referred to in this article shall apply to all the claims arising out of the death or wounding of, or any other bodily or mental injury to, a passenger. Where there is more than one claimant and the total of their claims exceeds the limit established, the claims shall be reduced proportionately.