Vancouver woman who was a passenger in four car accidents over eight years gets a big payout

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A woman who was a passenger in vehicles involved in four crashes between 2010 and 2018 was awarded nearly $740,000 in damages.

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according to a recent decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Alka Suri claimed that he suffered chronic physical and psychological injuries as a result of the accidents, resulting in loss of income, ability to support himself, and costs of future care. The court heard that Suri was also involved in a fifth car accident, but was not injured and also suffered an injury at work.

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The first crash occurred on October 12, 2010 when a vehicle entered a lane Suri and her husband were driving in, struck the left bumper, causing $1,400 in damage. This caused Suri’s neck to stiffen.

The second accident occurred less than a month later, on November 3, 2010, in a vehicle driven by Suri’s daughter. In this case, her vehicle was rear-ended causing $1,000 in damage. This caused pain in Suri’s knee and headaches.

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The third crash occurred in a vehicle driven by the same daughter on August 19, 2015 in which that vehicle was struck from the side, causing $800 in damage. The court heard that this crash caused more general pain, as well as panic and shock.

The fourth crash occurred on March 4, 2018 in a vehicle driven by Suri’s husband. In this case, the couple was parked when their vehicle was struck by someone backing up from their parking spot. This resulted in $850 in damages and exacerbated Suri’s symptoms, she testified.

Three months later, while Suri and her husband were driving, their vehicle’s tire blew out and the vehicle hit the center divider in the highway, but she was not injured.

In September 2021, Suri was injured at work due to a fall, but this was not part of the legal claim.

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Judge Jasmin Ahmad found that Suri suffered a series of physical injuries from the accidents, as well as psychological injuries that led to depression and anxiety.

“In this case, I found that Ms. Suri has suffered from the psychological and physical injuries described above, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression, as well as the physical injuries of neck pain, lower back pain, right wrist, hand, and shoulder pain, headaches, sleep problems and tinnitus. All injuries have continued since the first accident and are unlikely to resolve in the future,” Ahman said.

The injuries also caused significant problems for Suri’s catering businesses in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Ahman ruled that Suri should be awarded $280,000 for future loss of earning capacity, $150,000 in damages, $145,000 in past loss of income, $90,000 for loss of cleaning capacity, $67,270 for future care cost, and $5,000 in special damages. .

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