China's top legislature adopted on Saturday an amendment to the country's road traffic safety law, changing one controversial article which has seen frictions between motor vehicle drivers and pedestrians over the past three years.

It added: "If automobile drivers make no fault in accidents, they should face no more than 10 percent of the total compensation", despite the opposition from many Chinese drivers who argued they should not face compensation liability if they were not to blame in the accidents.

The amendment to the Law on Road Traffic Safety passed by the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), will come into effect on May 1, 2008.

The amendment, based on the principle of "showcasing respect to life", further clarified the responsibility of and compensation from vehicle drivers, non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians.

It stipulated that "If non-motorized vehicle drivers and pedestrians make no fault in accidents, the automobile drivers should bear the compensation liability."

It read, "Automobile drivers should bear less responsibility if evidence shows that non-motorized vehicle drivers or pedestrians are at fault. The automobile driver's compensation liability should be reduced according to the extent of the fault that the non-motorized vehicle drivers or pedestrians have made."

China reported 159,000 road accidents in the first six months of this year, in which 37,000 people were killed and 189,000 were injured, according to figures from the Ministry of Public Security.

(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2007)