Nova Scotia Government Passes Law to Protect Insurance Company Profits
In 2003 Nova Scotia passed the Automobile Insurance Reform Act (AIRA) to protect the profits of the insurance industry at the expense of innocent accident victims.
“Minor Injury” Cap on Compensation
Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for children in Canada.
Safe Kids Canada has released a research report this week that showed that residential streets may be more dangerous for our children that we think. According to the study, which was released this week a child hit by a car travelling at 50 km/h has an 80 per cent chance of being killed!
Thousands of Children Injured or Killed in Pedestrian Accidents:
Injury is the leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents in Canada. A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information indicates that the number of children injured each year in Canada has declined steadily over recent years.
The rate of child injury in 2005–2006 was 36.7 per 10,000 persons, compared to 40.6 per 10,000 persons, in 2001–2002.
The authors of report suggest that the decrease in pediatric injuries could be due to a variety of factors, including:
Improved injury-prevention programs;
Changing practice patterns with changing hospital admission criteria;
Administrative changes; and
Legislation designed to target child safety concerns.
The leading cause of injury was unintentional falls (37%) with double the number of injuries of the second leading cause of injury, car accidents (18%).
Driver fatigue is a factor in 20% of fatal car crashes and the cause of more than 400 deaths due to car accidents every year according to a new report from the Highway Safety Roundtable.
The study also reported that an alarming 20 percent of Canadians admit to falling asleep at the wheel at least once over the last year.
I was actually a little surprised by the reports findings. In my practice representing people who have suffered injury as a result of motor vehicle accidents, I would have said driver fatigue was an issue in close to 50% of all serious car crashes.
Dangerous drivers suffering from alcohol abuse, cardiac disease and neurologic disorders are not being reported by their doctors; and doctors may be committing medical malpractice for failing to comply with provincial laws.
A recent report in the medical journal Open Medicine found that between 1996 and 2001 37% of drivers admitted to a trauma unit with injuries from car accidents had a reportable medical condition that made them unfit to drive.
Most of the patients (85%) had seen a doctor in the year before the crash, and 14 per cent had even seen a doctor a week before their crash. But only three per cent of these had been reported to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
A judge has fined a Nova Scotia man $700 for driving drunk last spring in an incident that killed his best friend. Jonathan Savoy initially faced four charges, which included impaired driving causing the death of his friend, David MacDonald.
The more serious charge was dropped in a plea bargain deal that involved Savoy pleading guilty to impaired driving, taking a car without permission and driving while suspended.
Susan MacAskill of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said she was appalled with the judge’s decision.
“Somebody’s dead and nobody seems to be held responsible…”
In 2004, it was estimated that 3,013 individuals were killed in motor vehicle crashes in Canada. MADD Canada estimates that at a minimum 1,157 of these fatalities involved impaired driving. Further, MADD Canada estimates that approximately 68,245 individuals were injured in impaired driving crashes (187 per day).
