Category: Personal Injuries

Safety Driving Tips for Older Senior Drivers

The holidays are soon approaching, and for many of us, this will mean a welcome visit from our senior parents or grandparents. You may be concerned for their safety while driving long distances on the winter roads or in poor weather conditions. Statistics report that people 70 years of age and older have the second-highest accident rate per kilometer as compared to other age groups. Only young male drivers have a higher accident rate.

Driving concerns for seniors include:

  • Delayed reaction time  – a 65-year-old has a reaction time 22 times slower than a 30-year-old;
  • Impaired eyesight – vision problems such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration, can make it difficult to see clearly or drive at night, and may give rise to difficulties with depth perception;
  • Age-related hearing loss –  for example, reduced ability to hear a car honk or an approaching emergency vehicle or train can become issues;
  • Growing forgetfulness;
  • Range of motion issues such as shoulder checking and moving hands and feet.
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What Should You Do If You Are Injured In A Hit-and-Run Accident?

If you are injured in a hit-and-run accident in Alberta, whether as a pedestrian, a cyclist or while driving your own motor vehicle, you may still be able to get compensation for your injuries. The Government of Alberta, through the Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund, will pay compensation up to $200,000 for personal injury claims brought by individuals who are injured in motor vehicle collisions that were caused by an unknown and unidentified driver. Also, if you have insurance coverage through your own automobile insurer in the form of a SEF 44 Family Protection Endorsement, which provides coverage to you in the event that you are injured in a collision caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver, you may also have a claim under your own insurance policy as illustrated by this Alberta case. Continue reading

The Impact of Convictions for Criminal or Traffic Offences on Personal Injury Actions

Bottom line – this will be a gift to you and your personal injury lawyer.

The other driver either being convicted of or pleading guilty to a criminal offence, such as impaired driving, or a traffic offence, such as failure to stop at a stop sign, will go a long way to proving the liability (fault) of the other driver in causing the motor vehicle accident, and thus go a long way to proving their liability for your damages suffered.

Impaired Driving

Take the impaired driving situation, for example. If the other driver is found guilty of impaired driving, under the Alberta Evidence Act, their conviction can be admitted as proof of the underlying facts in your civil trial for damages. Continue reading

Help, my child has been injured at summer camp! What do I do?

Camp can be a wonderful experience for children opening their worlds to new skills and opportunities. Today summer camp takes many forms, including day camps focusing on one particular activity or skill, such as soccer or computer camps. The “old school” summer camp still thrives, however, frequently located on a lake or a river, or in the mountains or a forest, and offering a range of learning and recreational activities, including swimming, rowing, canoeing, horseback riding and archery.

While every parent wants their child to have a safe experience at summer camp, injuries can occur. These include:

  • Tragic drowning or near drowning accidents that may be due to inadequate supervision by camp counselors with little experience, who leave their posts, or are distracted by their cell phones or others;
  • Other incidents of wrongful death, caused by a fall or exposure to a fire hazard;
  • Sexual abuse of your child by camp counselors or other camp staff;
  • Physical injuries, caused by faulty, poorly maintained or hazardous camp lodgings and facilities;
  • Burn injuries, perhaps caused by improper supervision around campfires;
  • Injuries from bullying by other children, or otherwise being subjected to violence, including emotional trauma; and
  • Infectious diseases spreading throughout the camp population.
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Distracted Walking – A Modern Day Hazard

The distracted pedestrian is a common sight these days. You know the ones, walking with their eyes glued to their cell phones, frequently listening to music on headphones, or feverishly texting, oblivious to their surroundings. We have all had a laugh at videos of people falling into swimming pools and walking into poles while walking and texting. But more tragic are the increasing incidents of distracted pedestrians injured or killed in intersections, at railway crossings, and by light rapid transit. On May 16, 2017, for example, a 60-year-old woman was killed when she walked into the path of a C-Train at the Calgary Whitehorn station, spell-bound by her cell phone, and in February 2017 a 30-year-old man was killed at the same station, absorbed in his headphones and cell phone. Continue reading

Fatal Accidents: Compensation for the Loss of a Family Member

Fatal accidents are never a pleasant topic but with Mother’s Day just past and Father’s Day approaching, we as personal injury lawyers are reminded of our many clients who have lost a mother, father, spouse, or child through the negligence of another.

What happens when the victim of a fatal accident is a parent, child or spouse?

In addition to CPP death benefits and Section B death benefits (if the death is as a result of a motor vehicle accident), you may also be entitled to claim damages from the parties who were at fault for the accident. These damages consist of:

  1. Bereavement Damages

Bereavement damages are for the loss of the guidance, care and companionship of the deceased and are mandated by legislation. Continue reading