The Responsibility of The Vehicle Operators of Stolen or Usurped Motor Vehicles

Abstract

The responsibility of the vehicle operators of stolen or usurped motor vehicles and the way to eliminate this responsibility are shown in the first paragraph of article 107 of Highway Traffic Law No: 2918. According to the aforementioned paragraph, operators can escape the liability to pay compensation by proving that they or the persons for whose actions they are responsible have no misbehaviors related to the theft or usurpation of the vehicles. In this study, the correlation between the first paragraph of article 107 of the Highway Traffic Law and the responsibility of the operators for stolen or usurped motor vehicles are examined. The first paragraph of article 107 of the Highway Traffic Law is criticized, in particular the possibility of the joint responsibility of the vehicle operator and the thief or usurper. Finally, in addition to the responsibility of the operator with the thief or usurper, the responsibility of those to the passengers who get into the stolen motor vehicle is also explained. It is hoped that a critical examination of the operator’s joint responsibility with the thief or usurper will contribute to the Turkish legal literature.