The Motor Vehicle Act provides guidance on the conduct and responsibilities of drivers and cyclists on roadways. While the Motor Vehicle Act does not define cycles as vehicles, the Court of Appeal in Ormiston v. ICBC 2014 BCCA 276 noted that Section 183(1) of the act “imposes on the operator of a bicycle the same…
As discussed in previous blog articles on assault injuries, in law an assault is the intentional creation of the apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive conduct but without actual touching. On the other hand, battery occurs whenever unlawful force is intentionally inflicted on another person that is either physically harmful or offensive to his reasonable…
In an ICBC claim, the injured claimant must establish on the balance of probabilities that the defendant’s negligence (other driver) caused or materially contributed to an injury. The defendant’s negligence does not need to be the sole cause of the injury so long as it is part part of the cause beyond the range of…
When filing a lawsuit against ICBC for a motor vehicle accident injury claim, an injured claimant can choose to pursue it in an ordinary action or in a Fast Track Action (Rule 15) which shortens the entire litigation process making it more cost effective. There must be a formal election to pursue the action in…
As discussed in several prior blog posts, damages for pain and suffering for ICBC cases, known as non-pecuniary damages, compensate injured claimants for the pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of amenities experienced as a result of the defendant’s negligence to the date of trial and into the future. The amount awarded…
As we have discussed in prior ICBC duty to mitigate blog posts, injured claimants have a legal duty to mitigate their injuries and losses from motor vehicle accidents. In other words, injured claimants have an obligation and a responsibility to take reasonable steps to minimize their losses such as by following medical advice. If it…
At some point during your ICBC claim, you may be sent by your lawyer to an independent medical examination (IME) with a specialist doctor such as a physiatrist, psychiatrist, orthopedic surgeon, etc.. At the IME, the specialist doctor will interview you, review your medical records and examine you. Following this, an IME report is prepared…
In previous blog articles on the ICBC 6% disbursement cap, we discussed this new law that the NDP quietly passed with the sole purpose of saving ICBC money by prejudicing against an injured claimant’s ability to present his/her case. This new law limits the amount of disbursements recoverable from ICBC to 6% of the total…
Damages for pain and suffering, which are known as non-pecuniary damages, are intended to compensate an injured claimant for pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of amenities. In deciding the amount of pain and suffering to award to an injured claimant, the court will take into account several factors. These factors include…
The Court of Appeal has re-defined the concept of indivisible injury in the assessment of civil damages ( Neufeldt v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 2021 BCCA 327 ). The legal distinction between divisible and indivisible injuries is an important question of law in many personal injury cases. In this case review we will explain…