How can it be that some collision victims recover completely while others are left with life long pain?
For one, each of us is built differently.
For example, those with long, slender necks are more vulnerable than those with short, beefy ones. Remember Graham, the 香蕉视频直播渋deal crash-proof human香蕉视频直播� conjured up by a trauma surgeon, a crash expert and an artist? to see what Graham looks like: Here香蕉视频直播檚 what humans might look like if we had evolved to survive car crashes.
And the forces exerted on you in a crash depends on a dizzying list of factors, including the speeds and directions of the vehicles, safety features (which can actually increase damage to occupants) and which seat you are occupying.
And damage to your tissues can be different depending on whether or not you香蕉视频直播檙e braced for, and your particular head and body positioning at the time of, impact.
But, what if you strip away all of those variables. Pretend the exact same forces are exerted on two people with the exact same physical build, in exactly the same way.
Will their injuries and outcomes be exactly the same?
Consider if one is a perfectly healthy, 19 year-old gymnast. The other is me, a deconditioned 48 year-old desk jockey with an elevated BMI.
Neither of us had any pain, stiffness or other symptoms before the crash.
The 19 year-old gets sore after the crash. But with a handful of therapy sessions and a month or two of healing time he香蕉视频直播檚 completely recovered. He feels he香蕉视频直播檚 won the lottery with a $2,500.00 settlement from ICBC.
I香蕉视频直播檓 left with chronic, unrelenting neck pain and regular headaches.
How could that be?
An x-ray reveals arthritic changes in my neck. Of course it does. I香蕉视频直播檓 48 years-old!
Those arthritic changes, and my deconditioning, make the difference.
There is more straining and micro-tearing of tissues to an inflexible body, unable to touch my toes, than to someone who can scratch their ear with their big toe.
A complete recovery might still have been possible, though, if not for the arthritic changes.
What would a doctor say if asked what caused my chronic symptoms?
There are three possible answers.
One obvious one is the pre-existing arthritic changes, without which I would have enjoyed a complete recovery.
Another might be the crash. Had it not been for the crash, I would have continued to live pain and headache free.
And finally there might be an attempt to attribute the cause to each contributing factor, perhaps 40 per cent to the crash, 40% to the arthritic changes and 20 per cent to my deconditioning.
How would each of those answers impact on my ICBC claim?
This is one of the least understood aspects of personal injury law, even though the law could not be more clear.
A pre-existing vulnerability is not a 香蕉视频直播済et out of jail free card香蕉视频直播� for ICBC.
A negligent driver, through their liability insurer ICBC, is responsible to compensate their victim for all injuries and losses that would not have occurred had the collision not occurred.
It is no answer that the injuries and losses would have been less had the victim not been so vulnerable.
The law was set out, recently, at paragraph 61 of Allen v. Parkeh, . 香蕉视频直播淭he test for causation in Canada is the 香蕉视频直播渂ut-for香蕉视频直播� test香蕉视频直播o assess whether the Defendant caused an injury, the trial judge asks if, without the Defendant香蕉视频直播檚 tortious act, the injury would have resulted. If the answer is 香蕉视频直播測es香蕉视频直播�, the Defendant is not liable for the injury or the losses flowing from it香蕉视频直播f the answer is 香蕉视频直播渘o香蕉视频直播�, the Defendant is liable to the Plaintiff for the whole of the losses flowing from the injury香蕉视频直播ο憬妒悠抵辈
And further, 香蕉视频直播淭he losses 香蕉视频直播渇lowing香蕉视频直播� from an injury are those losses which the Plaintiff proves, on a balance of probabilities, would not have occurred 香蕉视频直播渂ut-for香蕉视频直播� the Defendant香蕉视频直播檚 act香蕉视频直播ο憬妒悠抵辈
So don香蕉视频直播檛 let ICBC tell you, or anyone you care about, that your injuries 香蕉视频直播渟hould have resolved by now香蕉视频直播� had it not been for your pre -existing vulnerabilities, and that they are not responsible for the ongoing aftermath of their insured香蕉视频直播檚 negligence.
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