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