Burlington drunk driving accident lawyers | Burlington impaired driving causing death lawyers
Our Burlington, Oakville Mississauga and Milton personal injury law firm often deals with fatality accidents caused by impaired drivers. We often see fatalities occur as a result of impaired drivers striking pedestrians or people riding their bikes. 
Civil Actions for drunk driving accidents
Impaired drivers that cause accidents will most likely face both criminal charges and civil lawsuits for the damage they cause. In Ontario, criminal penalties are very harsh with respect to drinking and driving convictions. In addition to criminal charges, those who were harmed as a result of the impaired driver’s actions causing damage to a loved one can also sue for their losses. This would be typically called a “wrongful death suit.” This is what we would assist with as Burlington impaired driving lawyers. These lawsuit against drunk drivers are framed negligence actions. Drivers in Ontario have a duty of care to operate their vehicles safely. They have a duty to keep other motorists and passengers safe from harm. Drinking and Driving will normally breach this duty and as a result – a driver could be held liable for his/her actions.
Third parties involved
Often times when people get behind the wheel of a car while impaired and kill someone – a third party could be involved such as the company or business that sold the booze to the drunk driver. Taverns in Ontario also have a duty of care not to over serve a visibly intoxicated person. For example, in the case of McIntyre v Grigg the Court of Appeal reviewed a verdict against a bar and the school the bar was located in. The Court of Appeal modified but upheld a punitive damage award against a defendant who was operating his motor vehicle after drinking excessively. The plaintiff suffered disastrous injuries after she was run over by an impaired driver. The Court of Appeal allowed punitive damages because it found that the defendants conduct was to be deliberate and intentional and that he drank excessively before operating his motor vehicle. In addition, the bar was held to be 30% percent liable the combination of the Defendant’s blood alcohol level and expert testimony which suggested that the Defendant was showing visible signs of impairment. There also evidence that the “Smart Serve” protocols were not followed.
The compensation
The loss of a loved one in Ontario is characterized case as loss of cared guidance and companionship. The awards are decided based on what the courts feel is adequate and reasonable. There is also a dependency loss which can be claimed which is the loss that is experienced by the survivors as a result of the loss of the deceased contribution to the family income over their lives. This was set in a case of Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Limited. The judge in that case noted that we must look at “...what sort of career would the accident victim had. What were his prospects and potential prior to the accident. It is not loss of earnings but loss of earning capacity of which compensation must be made.” We must project the future income of the deceased and establish various assumptions. If the deceased was a young person we must try our best to establish a future career path and income stream that would have flown from it. A vocational expert is often used as well as an economist.
We must look at the productivity gains of certain occupations given that wages are rising and will continue to rise in excess of mere predictable inflation. The best gage for a future economic loss is to look at the deceased history of employment. It is easier for a jury to base an award if there is stable past economic history. Contingencies are calculated in such as, divorce, reduced life expectancy and remarriage. There also maybe a pecuniary loss of a minor in relation to his or her dependency on a lost parent. If that minor was in receipt of child support then the Child Support Guidelines is a tool that we must use to quantify the child’s dependency loss. If the deceased was divorced than a remarriage contingency is generally applied to both, loss of dependency and loss of housekeeping. This however, is a statistical argument which often falls in the deceased spouse’s favor. The possibility, based on Stats Canada, of remarriage after a spouse dies is currently only in the range of 16 percent. Most female widows that have been married for ten years or more do not re-marry, similarly older widows over 40 are less likely to remarry. Everything must be examined, studied and argued.
There may also be a pecuniary loss for the survivor. This is also explored in Family Law Act claims. An alternate approach that we can take is a loss of economic opportunity. In this we address the pecuniary losses of a surviving family member. It is extremely difficult but not impossible to calculate assumptions of the surviving spouses future wage loss. The surviving spouse often has a difficult economic outlook that suffers either to increase family responsibilities or having their earning potential impacted in some other way.
In fatality claims we can also claim for household and child care services. Under the setting evidence asked that the surviving spouse’s time and interaction with the family will be quit relevant as well as obtaining some form of analysis of what the deceased contribution of the household was over and above the obvious pecuniary aspects.
Also - and very important - is that if the deceased was to survive some time after an initial accident or injury, the estate can make its own individual claim under the Trustee Act.
If you require anymore information with respect to a wrongful death or fatality claim, please do not hesitate to contact Matt Lalande at matt.lalande@haber-lawyer.com or by calling 905-639-8894. We are impaired driving accident lawyers that have been dealing with drinking and driving accidents for over 38 years. We lawyers that serve clients in Toronto, Mississauge, Oakville, Milton, Burlington, Hamilton and Stoney Creek.