PASSENGER RIGHTS IN BUS TRANSPORT

Zbog brojnih prednosti, autobusni prijevoz putnika jedan je od najrazvijenijih oblika prijevoza putnika što potvrđuje i njegova normativna regulacija. Prijevoz putnika predstavlja ugovorni odnos između prijevoznika i putnika kojim se uređuju međusobna prava i obveze, pri čemu su karakteristike tog ugovornog odnosa neformalnost, dvostranoobveznost, naplatnost, konsenzualnost, ali i detaljna reguliranost prava one slabije strane – putnika. Prava putnika u autobusnom prijevozu uređena su kroz tri razine: međunarodnu, europsku i nacionalnu, pri čemu se propisi tih razina međusobno dopunjuju. Na međunarodnoj razini najvažniji dokument koji regulira prava putnika jest Konvencija o ugovoru o prijevozu u međunarodnom cestovnom prijevozu putnika i prtljage, čija je stranka i Republika Hrvatska, a koja kao najvažnije pitanje regulira pitanje odgovornosti prijevoznika koji za štetu nastalu na osobi putnika odgovara prema strogom kriteriju relativnog kauzaliteta. U okviru europskog zakonodavstva prava putnika u autobusnom prijevozu detaljno regulira Uredba o pravima putnika u autobusnom prijevozu regulacijom materijalnih prava putnika i odgovornosti prijevoznika, postupanja s pritužbama te jasno postavlja prava osoba s invaliditetom kao putnika. Hrvatski propisi relevantni za uređenje prava putnika u autobusnom prijevozu jesu Zakon o obveznim odnosima te Zakon o prijevozu u cestovnom prometu, ali i brojni drugi koji reguliraju sporedne djelatnosti vezane uz autobusni prijevoz. S obzirom na neformalnost ovog ugovornog odnosa, ulogu kreiranja prava putnika imaju, osim samog zakonodavca, i prijevoznici donošenjem općih uvjeta prijevoza kao autonomnih izvora prava. No, za bolje razumijevanje prava putnika ključni su i sudska praksa te opća načela prometnog prava.Due to numerous advantages, bus passenger transport is one of the most developed forms of passenger transport, which is confirmed by its elaborate regulations. Passenger transport is a contractual relationship between a carrier and passengers regulating mutual rights and obligations, characterized not only by informality, mutual obligations, but also by detailed regulations of the rights of the weaker party i.e. passengers. The passengers\u27 rights in a bus transport are regulated at three complementary levels: international, European and national. At the international level, the most important document governing the rights of passengers is the Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Road, to which the Republic of Croatia has been a party, and which regulates the liability of carriers corresponding to the person of the passenger according to the strict criterion of relative causality. In the European legislation framework, the rights of passengers in bus transport are regulated in detail by the Regulation on the Rights of Passengers in Bus Transport regulating the passengers’ substantive rights and carriers’ liability, handling complaints and clearly setting out the rights of persons with disabilities. Croatian regulations relevant to the Regulation of the Rights of Passengers in Bus Transport are the Civil Obligations Act and the Road Transport Act, as well as numerous other pieces of legislation stipulating secondary activities related to bus transport. Given the informality of this contractual relationship, the role of creating passengers’ rights is given not only to the legislator but also to the carrier by adopting general conditions of carriage as autonomous sources of rights. However, court practice and general principles of traffic law are also crucial for a better understanding of passenger rights