LAWYER HELPLINE: ☎ 855 804 7142

There are over 500,000 motor vehicle collisions in Canada every year which cause almost 250,000 people to be injured, over 20,000 of which are critical injuries of which about 3,000 are fatalities. There are about 8 deaths every day on Canadian roads and there is a serious injury every 2 minutes resulting in over 100,000 claims for compensation ever year in Canada. If you would like to talk to a Toronto car accident lawyer without further obligation then just use the helpline or send the contact form or email our offices and a Toronto car accident lawyer who deals exclusively in personal injury accident claims will speak to you with free advice and information on how best to preserve your legal rights to compensation for your injuries.

 

Toronto Car Accident Lawyer - Negligence

 

Negligence is a word used in the law, particularly around cases where a person has been injured or killed. Not every injury or accident involves the injured party suing the other party. The lawyer for the injured party must show the presence of negligence on the part of the defendant. Negligence involves either an act of commission, meaning the defendant performed an act that ultimately injured the victim or an act of omission, meaning the defendant failed to perform an act or action that ultimately resulted in an injury or death to the victim.

Toronto car accident lawyers show negligence in a stepwise way. First they must show that a duty of care existed between the negligent person and the victim. Duty of care involves the responsibility of a person to behave in such a way as to not hurt another person. A driver on the road, for example, has a duty of care to drive correctly so as to protect other drivers. A nursing home worker has a duty of care to make sure the nursing home resident is treated properly and with appropriate respect.

Toronto car accident lawyers also need to prove that the duty of care was somehow breached by the defendant. He or she must prove that the negligent party failed to hold up to the standards of what a reasonable person should do. This can be shown in any number of ways. For example, if the defendant got a ticket for going through a stop sign and caused an accident that injured or killed another person, this ticket would be proof of a reduction in the duty of care. Incidentally, such a thing can be implied as well and there doesn’t even have to be a known ticket or traffic citation involved to show a breach of duty of care.

Finally, the injured party needs to document that he or she suffered losses as a result of the behavior of the defendant. Remember that the defendant can be a single person, a government agency, a corporation or an establishment that caused the person their losses. Losses can begin from the moment of the accident or injury and can continue for the remainder of the Plaintiff’s (injured party’s) life.

A Toronto car accident lawyer needs to do something about figuring out the value of the victim’s losses. They divide losses into “special damages” and “general damages”. Special damages are easier to figure out because they are made up of monetary things like wages, cost of car replacement and medical fees. Lawyers total these kinds of things under “special damages” and include them as a portion of the compensation claim.

General damages are more difficult to put a number on. These types of damages include attempting to put a number on pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and lack of ability to participate in hobbies and other daily activities. Nevertheless, lawyers attempt to put a value on these things and include them as part of the compensation claim.

So when a claim is totaled, it can include a number of aspects, such as medical bills, cost to repair a car, loss of value of a car, replacement of a car, loss of wages from the time of the incident to the time of the legal settlement, loss of future wages, losses related to not being able to participate in activities of daily living or hobbies, home health care, cost of medical equipment needed in disability and cost of nursing visits.

When a claim is filed, the lawyers involved get together and attempt to settle the case out of court. If they are not successful, the case goes to trial. Lawyers must remember to respect the Statutes of Limitations on the case.

LAWYER HELPLINE: ☎ 855 804 7142