Customer safety more important than profit

Tort law aside, the flawed design of many Ofo bike locks should be enough to hold the company accountable. Indeed, the boy had limited capacity for civil conduct, and his legal guardians and society had the responsibility to prevent him from breaching the law and keep him safe.

The "pond drowning" principle could be of some help in the case, because it argues that if there is no fence around a pond and a child drowns in it, the pond owner has to pay compensation to the child's family for failing to fulfill his or her responsibility of building a fence, so as to prevent accidents.

Locks of many Ofo bikes that can be easily opened have been the cause of many accidents, including the one in Shanghai. Many know the combination code to open the locks can be used repeatedly and shared with anyone, including children below 12.

It is unlikely that Ofo has been unaware of its design flaws and the ensuing consequences. One or two safety related incidents could be considered "accidents", not a series of similar incidents. A month ago a 13-year-old boy died in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, while riding downhill on an Ofo bike. And the mechanical lock had something to do with it, as some reports suggest the boy managed to crack it.

For Ofo and its rivals, competition must not override the importance of protecting intellectual property and customers' lawful rights. Enterprises should not fail in their duty to ensure the safety of their customers, especially the underage who are vulnerable to a slew of things.

Even if Ofo is exempted from legal responsibilities in the Shanghai case, its reputation could suffer a heavy blow if its bikes continue to have locks that can be easily opened. The legal and other authorities, on their part, need to adopt stricter standards for shared bikes.

Liu Yuanju, a researcher at Shanghai Institute of Finance and Laws