John Rice and Hector MacDonald were trial counsel for Veronica Howell, a young UBC student who was struck by a hit and run truck while crossing the street mid-block, but the Defendant drove into oncoming traffic and was driving the wrong way when he hit her. Ms. Howell was left with a brain injury, lying on the road unconscious with a fractured skull and leaking cerebral spinal fluid from her ear. The driver fled the scene but luckily an eye witness obtained the license plate. Throughout the trial the Defendant denied that he was the driver or that his truck was used in the accident. The Defendant refused to cooperate with the police or ICBC and in fact his driver’s license was suspended at the time of the Hit & Run for previously having driven while his license was under suspension. The Defendant was self-represented at trial and ICBC by operation of law defended the claim. ICBC alleged at trial that Veronica was entirely or mostly at fault for the accident because she was jaywalking. ICBC also argued that most of the Plaintiff’s problems were psychological, that she was misusing her medication and that with proper treatment she would recover significantly more than she had. JMR argued most of the fault was on the Hit & Run driver because he struck the Plaintiff when the traffic in her direction was clear and she could not reasonably expect that the Defendant would drive into oncoming traffic to get around cars stopped for a red light. JMR argued that the Hit & Run had devastating consequences for her quality of life, ability to live independently and participate in the workforce.

The trial judge found the Defendant driver 75% at fault and awarded Veronica close to $3 million in damages after a 25% deduction for her contributory negligence for jaywalking, including: $275,000 for pain and suffering; $14,000 for past income loss; $1,775,000 for loss of income earning capacity; almost $1.4 million in lifetime care and rehabilitation costs, and treatment expenses in the amount of $14,781.77. Yet to be determined are the damages associated for management fees of the damages award and adjustments for income tax “gross up”, plus the costs and disbursements associated with the trial.

Lastly, the trial judge made a $100,000 punitive damages award against the Defendant for his failure to stop after striking Veronica, fleeing the scene, driving on a suspended license, refusing to cooperate with the police and ICBC in their investigation, and lying under oath throughout the hearing. Punitive damage awards are extremely rare in Canada, and reserved for particularly high-handed conduct worthy of denunciation, deterrence and retribution. To our knowledge, the $100,000 punitive damages award is the largest ever such award in Canadian history for motor vehicle negligence.

Read the Full Decision on CanLII here.