Who is to blame for an accident? The driver? The pedestrian? Could it be both? According to the Negligence Act [NA] the answer is, yes to both.
Contributory Negligence is the allocation of a certain percentage of blame the victim has in an accident. How much is that percent? That is up to a jury, and in Ontario they can allocate this fault anywhere from zero to 100 per cent.
As a personal injury lawyer that deals with many pedestrian and motor vehicle accident cases, I am always intrigued at how jurors feel about fault.
Want to try your hand at being an armchair juror? Assign a percentage of fault to each party for the scenarios below:
There are no right and wrong answers to the situations above.
Everyone can have a different opinion and lawyers never know how a jury will feel. This is where experience and expertise come in. A good lawyer can assess a file and help guide you through a jury process for the best possible outcome for you.
Nancy Young is a personal injury lawyer at Pace Law Firm. She can be reached at