Court Finds Driver 25% At Fault for Striking Jaywalker
Posted on by Goodman Law
As previously discussed, regardless of who has the right of way, our Court places a heavy duty on drivers to take precaution and keep a proper lookout for pedestrians. The recent decision in Murdoch v. Biggers demonstrates the application of this principle in the context of a pedestrian collision.
In that case, the Plaintiff attempted to cross three lanes of traffic against a red light. The vehicles in the first two lanes stopped for the jaywalker, while the vehicle in the third lane failed to stop in time and collided with the Plaintiff, resulting in a broken leg.
The Court noted that the vehicles in the first two lanes were able to stop in time, therefore establishing a standard of care that the third vehicle failed to follow. While the defendant motorist had the right of way, the Court went on to find that he shouldered partial responsibility for failing to keep a proper lookout:
[33] In this case, I do not believe that the defendant exercised the appropriate standard of care to avoid breaching that duty. The drivers in vehicles in the two lanes to her right were able to observe and stop for the plaintiff, and a driver behind her (Ms. Larson) was able to see Ms. Murdoch. Mr. Lukinuk was able to observe that something was happening in his rear-view mirror. In the circumstances, I find that the defendant failed to keep a proper lookout by failing to observe Ms. Murdoch’s entry into the crosswalk and by failing to observe that vehicles in the two lanes to her right had stopped for Ms. Murdoch. I find that if the defendant had in fact been keeping a sufficient look out, she would have been able to stop for Ms. Murdoch and avoid the collision…
[36] In all of the circumstances, I conclude that the 75% of the fault for the accident should be borne by the plaintiff and 25% by the defendant.
Since the Defendant driver was only found 25% liable for the accident, the apportionment results in the Plaintiff receiving 25 cents for every dollar the Court went on to award in compensation.