Recent ICBC Court Cases
Please scroll down or click on the below headings to read summaries from a select sample of recent BC Court cases dealing with BC vehicle injury claims. These cases can help provide insight into factors that courts look at when valuing non-pecuniary loss (pain and suffering) in ICBC injury claims. Please note that these case summaries are provided for information only and should not be taken as determinative of what any particular ICBC claim may be worth.
Recent ICBC Whiplash Cases
Vasiliopoulos v. Dosanjh
BCSC (BC Supreme Court), Vancouver Registry, June, 2007
A 52-year old woman was caught in the middle of a low-impact pileup, having been rear-ended and her own car bumping the vehicle in front. Her injuries, however, turned out to be much more serious. Her initial whiplash, itself relatively minor, turned into a soft tissue injury that led to enduring suffering, depression and anxiety. The court, as a result, assessed the value of her pain and suffering at $50,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Cawston v. Alexander and Roman
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, February, 2006
The plaintiff was a former heavy equipment operator and ranch hand who had stopped his education at Grade 9. He had been a former rodeo champion before settling down on his own ranch and making a large part of his living operating heavy equipment. He was driving a logging access road when his car died. While he had his head under the hood of the car, the defendant’s vehicle struck a truck parked next to his car, which in turn struck the plaintiff’s car. The plaintiff’s head was lodged in a cavity and his body was thrown along with the car approximately 25 paces. The plaintiff suffered fairly serious whiplash and he was impeded in his operation of the ranch and his heavy machinery operations. The court made a non-pecuniary award of $60,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Kandag v. Di Vora
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, May, 2007
A 46-year old man was rear ended and he suffered whiplash in the left neck and trapezius down to his shoulder. Not all the plaintiff’s injuries were a result of the motor vehicle accident, and as a result, the court made a nonpecuniary award of $22,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Recent ICBC Back Injury (Soft Tissue) Cases
Naidu v. Mann
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, August, 2007
A young woman in her twenties was rear-ended and suffered soft tissue injury which the court accepted was thoracic outlet syndrome, or TOS. This mostly affected her shoulder, although she also complained of an injury to her jaw called temporomandibular dysfunction, or TMJ. These two problems led to secondary symptoms such as headaches, depression, bowel problems and sexual dysfunction. As a result, the court awarded the plaintiff $50,000 for her pain and suffering.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
McCreight v. Currie
BCSC, Kelowna Registry, January, 2007
A43-year old female mental health advocate and stay-at-home mother was T-boned in a collision and suffered whiplash, resulting in long-lasting soft tissue injuries to her neck, shoulder, back and hips. This injury then led to a recurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder and an exacerbation of her depression. The court’s non-pecuniary assessment was set at $40,000, slightly lower because of some pre-existing problems.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Nisbet v. Pare
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, August, 2007
The plaintiff was a 54-year old woman who, at the time of the accident, did not work outside the house. She was rear ended and suffered soft tissue injuries to her left arm and shoulder. After the accident, the pain became so severe that she was limited in what she could do for herself, to the point where she couldn’t even dress. At trial, her recovery was estimated to be at approximately 75 to 80 per cent of normal. The court awarded her $35,000 for pain and suffering.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Khangura v. Zhang
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, August, 2007
A 53-year old taxi driver was rear ended in a fender bender that was characterized as “more than a tap, but not major.” He suffered moderate whiplash with soft tissue injuries to the neck, shoulders and lower back that largely, but did not completely, resolved by the time of trial, two years after the crash. The court awarded him $26,000 for his non-pecuniary loss.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Recent ICBC Spine Injury Cases
Jackson v. Rooney
BCSC, New Westminster Registry, June, 2007
A42-year old medical laboratory technologist was broadsided in an intersection. This resulted in a relatively serious neck injury necessitating surgery and the onset of various degenerative changes and four years of considerable neck surgery. She also suffered pain in her face, knee, back and shoulder and was no longer able to participate in sports. She even suffered a reduction in strength and the dexterity of her left hand was diminished. The court awarded her $75,000 for her nonpecuniary loss.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Downey v. Brousseau
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, January, 2007
The plaintiff was a welder with a sporadic work history who, after a previous work-related accident, worked as both a security guard and a maintenance mechanic doing light duty repair work. He was a passenger in a limousine that drove into a light pole, and sustained multiple injuries including a mild to moderate compression fracture in his spine, a fractured left wrist and soft tissue injuries to the neck and shoulders. He was unable to return to work for a short period immediately after the accident, but the court found that his other injuries were the real cause of most of his impairment. His non-pecuniary award was assessed at $75,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Recent ICBC Brain Injury Cases
Repole v. Bakker et al
BCSC, New Westminster Registry, April, 2007
The plaintiff, a 33-year old woman, suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive impairment and various soft tissue injuries when she was rear-ended at an intersection. The Court assessed her non-pecuniary loss at $90,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Sirna v. Smolinski
BCSC, Victoria Registry, July, 2007
A 22-year old woman was seriously injured while rollerblading across a crosswalk. Three other vehicles had stopped to let her cross, but the defendant did not and struck her, causing her to flip onto the hood and smash into the windshield. The defendant claimed the plaintiff was partially to blame for her own injuries, but the court found that the plaintiff was moving at a walking pace and that, once she entered the crosswalk, she was entitled to assume that oncoming traffic would stop for her. The plaintiff’s injuries included neck pain, headache, back and lumbar pain and chronic fatigue. She also suffered a mild traumatic brain injury that left her with cognitive deficits including attention and memory deficits and an impaired sense of smell. Her award for pain and suffering was assessed at $200,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Clark v. Hebb
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, June, 2007
A 29-year old warehouseman was riding in a car being driven by the defendant. The defendant had been following a van too closely, and when the van suddenly changed lanes to avoid hitting an unidentified object on the road, she was unable to react in time. She overreacted, her car spun out of control and crashed into a curbside barrier. The court struggled with the plaintiff’s reliability, finding him to have implausible absences of memory and exaggerated physical symptoms. However, as a result of numerous expert doctors’ reports, the court was satisfied that he had suffered a mild traumatic brain injury. Other injuries included soft tissue injuries to the shoulder, neck, back and jaw. The court awarded the plaintiff $75,000 for non-pecuniary damages.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Recent ICBC Bone Injury Cases
Pipe v. Dusome
BCSC, Penticton Registry, July, 2007
The driver of a truck had slowed down to turn left, but his left turn signal light was not working. Behind the truck driver was a man on a motorcycle. He thought the truck was slowing down to turn right, and attempted to pass. He struck the door of the truck, suffering a deep laceration on his right ankle and a laceration to a tendon. At the trial, some 21 months after the accident, he still experienced periodic swelling in the ankle, a limp, daily pain and had trouble going down the stairs. The court found the laceration alone was enough to warrant an award between $12,000 and $15,000 for pain and suffering. However, because of a pre-existing risk of arthritis and the fact that the accident in fact triggered the onset of arthritis, the 59-year old plaintiff was assessed a non-pecuniary amount of $35,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Moses v. Kim
BCSC, Vancouver Registry, September, 2007
The plaintiff, a 53-year old man, was struck while crossing the Trans-Canada Highway. His most serious injuries were compound fractures below each knee, and as a result, he underwent more than a dozen surgeries and spent weeks in the hospital. Four years after the accident, his right leg spontaneously refractured. At the time of trial, he suffered continuing leg pain and also pain in his back and hip. He struggled with walking, especially on uneven terrain. In the end, the court considered the pain, surgeries and emotional and lifestyle impact of his injuries, assessing his non-pecuniary damages at $165,000.
Read the full judgment as a PDF.
Schipilow v. Minch
BCSC, Kamloops Registry, October, 2006
The 46-year old female plaintiff pedestrian came into contact with an articulated transit bus driven by the defendant, presumably when the bus moved marginally into the parking lane where the plaintiff was standing. While the plaintiff was there to be seen, she had assumed some risk in leaving the relative safety of the sidewalk, therefore she was seen to be partially at fault. She suffered a severely fractured right wrist that continued to cause problems at the time of the trial, as well as ongoing difficulties with headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain and some jaw pain. She also endured low moods and interrupted sleep, was no longer able to participate in favoured sports and hobbies and was also unable to do many of the household chores she was accustomed to performing. The court assessed her damages for pain and suffering at $75,000.
