No higher duty of care for drivers with sudden medical episodes: Ontario Superior Court
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has dismissed a personal injury lawsuit against the estate of a driver who suffered a seizure while driving, ruling that he had taken reasonable precautions and was not negligent.
On July 17, 2017, the defendant was driving home on Highway 427 when he lost control of his pickup truck due to a seizure. His vehicle collided with two others before striking the plaintiffs' car. The defendant had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2015, leading to previous seizures. His driver's licence was suspended in 2016 but reinstated later that year after doctors determined he was fit to drive.
The defendant passed away from brain cancer five months after the accident. His estate sought summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that he had followed medical advice and taken prescribed anti-seizure medication.
The plaintiffs argued that the defendant should have refrained from driving due to the risk of a seizure. They maintained that the estate bore the burden of disproving negligence and that the standard of care should have required the defendant to eliminate the risk by not driving.
The Superior Court disagreed, emphasizing that the law does not impose a reverse onus on the defence to disprove negligence. The court found that the defendant had taken reasonable precautions, including following medical advice and adhering to prescribed treatment. Both parties' medical experts agreed that he could not have predicted or prevented the seizure beyond his existing precautions.
The court rejected the argument that the "inevitable accident" defence required the defendant to prove he had done the utmost to prevent the crash. Instead, it reaffirmed that the standard of care in negligence law remains one of reasonable care, not strict liability. The ruling held that the law does not impose a higher duty of care on drivers who suffer sudden medical episodes without prior warning.
The court granted summary judgment in favour of the estate, dismissing the lawsuit. It ruled that the plaintiffs had not met the legal burden of proving negligence, as the defendant had taken reasonable steps to manage his medical condition.
