The celebrated Spanish artist Pablo Picasso did not believe in accidents and said, “There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents”.  Although Picasso was speaking in the abstract, his words do resonate in the context of motor vehicle accidents.  Many collisions may arise out of chance, fluke, or unintentional behaviour, but many more are caused by the intentional behaviour of drivers and, though called accidents, are in fact fated encounters.  In this blog, we review the law related to the top three intentional behaviours that cause motor vehicle “accidents” to occur: distracted driving, careless driving, and driving under the [...]

catastrophic injuryEvery year thousands of Ontario drivers and passengers end up with serious impairments following motor vehicle accidents. Some of those impairments will be catastrophic, even if the original injuries were not. Regulations under Ontario's Insurance Act define which impairments are “catastrophic” for the purpose of qualifying for more Accident Benefits under the Ontario Automobile Insurance Policy. Generally speaking, “catastrophic injuries” are ones that will have a serious lifelong impact on many aspects of the victim’s life. Catastrophic injuries include paraplegia or quadraplegia. Serious traumatic brain injuries may also qualify as “catastrophic” injuries. Loss of vision or the amputation of an [...]