The Shilin District Court has ordered the China Youth Corps (CYC) and a rock-climbing wall operator to pay compensation of NT$1.05 million (US$32,382) to the family of a woman who fell to her death while rock climbing at Taipei Neihu Sports Center in 2020.
The father of the woman, surnamed Su (蘇), took the case to court, claiming compensation over her death from the CYC, which has run the sports center since 2017, and a company that operates the rock-climbing site.
Su’s father said that the CYC, which outsourced and leased the rock-climbing site to the private operator and shared the profits, is responsible for supervising and managing the venue, a verdict issued by the district court on Monday showed.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The woman’s father said his daughter used an automatic belay device to climb at an outdoor area of the rock-climbing site on Aug. 29, 2020 and she also signed an admission agreement form containing safety guidelines in advance.
Before her third climb, Su forgot to clip into the belay, and there was no supervisor at the scene, her father said.
The woman fell, resulting in severe head injuries from which she died at the hospital, he said.
The woman’s father said the CYC and the rock-climbing wall operator failed to follow the rock-climbing wall manufacturers’ operational instructions and guidelines, and did not properly place safety flags and warning signs at the site, the court document showed.
The man said he believed the climbing-wall equipment and services provided by the CYC and the operator were not in line with generally expected safety standards, which contributed to the fatal accident.
The man requested NT$6 million in compensation from the CYC and the rock-climbing company.
In response, the CYC said it had rented out the climbing area to the operator and had no responsibility in its management.
There are currently no regulations in Taiwan requiring supervisory personnel to be present when visitors use automatic safety devices, the CYC said.
The operator added that the woman signed an agreement before entering the venue and it fulfilled its obligation of informing her of the risks involved in climbing.
It also said that flags were not necessarily protective and they were unrelated to Su’s death.
However, based on the safety guidelines of US artificial rock-climbing equipment manufacturers and the opinions of local experts, the court ruled that the operator was negligent in not sending personnel to monitor and inspect rock climbers and in failing to properly use safety flags and warning signs.
The district court also ruled that the CYC has administration authority over the operator’s rock-climbing business activities.
The court ruled that Su had 30 percent negligence liability for the accident, but that the CYC and operator were 70 percent liable, meaning the latter two are jointly and severally liable to pay NT$1.05 million in compensation to Su’s father.
The decision can be appealed.
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