In this car accident personal injury case the claim for past loss of earning capacity was dismissed as speculative. Even though the trial judge used the wrong and higher standard of balance of probability, the Court of Appeal still dismissed the appeal. (Rousta v. MacKay,2018 BCCA 29). The ICBC claimant was driving on Taylor Way…
In this bizarre personal injury case a security guard was run over and injured by a fleeing vehicle after a shoplifter stole a pair of sunglasses. ICBC then tried to blame the security guard for being contributorily negligent.(MacKenzie v. John Doe,2018 BCSC 104) The security guard approached the shiplifter’s passenger side and opened the door, saying “store security”. He…
The claimant was rear ended when stopped in traffic which caused her vehicle to strike the rear of another vehicle in front of her. This personal injury case settled on the Friday prior to the commencement of trial the following Monday. The settlement was for payment of $736,807.00 new money, plus assessable costs and disbursements for…
In this important and first Supreme Court personal injury case of 2018 the court accepts that a claim for past loss of earning capacity involves a consideration of hypothetical events. Therefore an ICBC injury claimant is not required to prove these hypothetical events on a balance of probabilities when claiming loss of past opportunity to earn.(De Groot…
The Rear Ender: Mechanics of Whiplash Associated Disorder The neck acts as a stationary marker during an average rear end impact collision. When hit from behind by a car the spine and torso load the seat and the torso begins to accelerate. Significantly high shear forces develop in the neck and brain, the spinal curves straighten and the…
This Christmas story involves four motor vehicle accidents all occurring within 2.5 years. In a previous accident the claimant also sustained a serious brain injury. To make it more jolly, between the third and fourth accidents in issue, he was involved in two additional accidents. (Lamb v. Fullerton, 2016 BCSC 1694) Claims were made for pain and suffering,…
This injury claimant was involved in 2 car accidents. In the first she was rear-ended by a cement truck. In the second accident she was in Victoria, on her way to the airport, when the taxi she was in was struck on the side by a minivan driven.(Lauriente v. Schoonhoven,2017 BCSC 2246) The claimant worked as an emergency…
Following a car accident the resulting pain can be immediate but masked by other injuries for several days. The issue then becomes whether the car accident caused the injury given the symptoms may be reported several days or weeks after the car crash. In this personal injury case the claimant was travelling northbound on Highway 22 near Castlegar,…
The court concluded that prior to the car accident the claimant had a number of “quiescent but present conditions” in his hands and wrists that would likely have become increasingly symptomatic over time even if the accident had never occurred. This included arthritis of the wrist and thumb. However, the fact that the defendants’ conduct triggered the…
This personal injury case arose from a car accident which occurred at the intersection of 140th Street and 74th Avenue in Surrey when the other vehicle turned left into the path of the claimant’s vehicle. She was 58 year old at the time of the accident and sought compensation for pain and suffering, past income loss, future income loss,…