Family of Quebec man killed when a tree fell on his car should go to province’s auto insurer for compensation: Supreme Court

A Quebec man killed when a tree fell on the vehicle he was driving in the City of Westmount must turn to the province’s auto insurer for compensation, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, thus rejecting the man’s civil lawsuit against the city.

In August 2006, a tree in the City of Westmount fell on a vehicle occupied by Gabriel Anthony Rossy, killing him. His family sued the city for damages, alleging that the city, as the owner of the tree, had failed to properly maintain it.

The city sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the injury resulted from an accident caused by an automobile. Therefore, any compensation should come from the no-fault benefits scheme administered by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec under the province’s Insurance Act.

The province’s no-fault insurance scheme applies to any accidents in which injury or damage was “caused by an automobile, by the use thereof or by the load carried in or on an automobile.”

The Supreme Court agreed with the city’s position.

“Although the vehicle may have been stationary or moving through an intersection, the evidence on the record is that [Rossy] was using the vehicle as a means of transportation when the accident occurred,” the Supreme Court ruled, thus overturning the outcome in the Quebec Court of Appeal. “This is enough to find that the damage arose as a result of an ‘accident’ within the meaning of the act and that the nofault benefits of the scheme are triggered. Therefore, the civil claim is barred and [Rossy’s] parents and brothers must turn instead to the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec for compensation.”

Elsewhere, the court wrote: “The vehicle’s role in the accident need not be an active one. The mere use or operation of the vehicle, as a vehicle, will be sufficient for the act to apply.”

The full case can be found at:

http://scc.lexum.org/en/2012/2012scc30/2012scc30.html