Brown takes up the fight for woman called ‘walking miracle’

If a pedestrian is struck and injured in a motor vehicle crash, the onus is on the person behind the wheel to show they were driving safely, Toronto critical injury lawyer Patrick Brown tells the Toronto Star.

“When a vehicle strikes a pedestrian they have to prove they were using reasonable care when operating a vehicle,” says Brown, partner with McLeish Orlando LLP.

He makes his comments in connection with the story of his client — a woman called a “walking miracle” — who stepped off the Harbourfront streetcar and was hit by an airport shuttle bus.

‘Heavy toll’

“Despite damage to her brain’s frontal lobe and spleen, and eight broken ribs — which led to a life-threatening condition known as a flail chest” she survived, the Star reports. “The recovery has taken a heavy toll: she was bedridden for months and struggled through depression, and it has taken nearly a year for her to feel strong enough to share her story.”

As the woman lay unconscious on the day of the crash, the newspaper states police gave her a jaywalking ticket under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act for failing to use a marked pedestrian crossing.

“It was delivered by Toronto police to her mother, who was sitting anxiously by her side in an emergency ward,” the article says.

“The law doesn’t say how far away from a marked crossing a pedestrian can legally cross the road mid-block. But if there’s no marking, pedestrians can cross as long as they yield to oncoming vehicles,” the Star reports.

“No law absolves drivers of the obligation to take all due care to prevent a collision,” it continues.

Brown, a road safety advocate, tells the newspaper that bus drivers travelling along Queens Quay, in particular, have a “responsibility” to look out for pedestrians.

Tourist area

“This is a hugely, heavily pedestrian-travelled area. You just have to go down there and watch and you’ll see people crossing and walking in that area because it’s a tourist area, but it’s also a business area, and it’s also our waterfront,” he says.

The woman is planning to sue the owner of the bus and the driver, the Star reports.

She is still not able to return to work, the article states.

The Star notes the woman also has her third scheduled appearance in court this summer to fight her $50 jaywalking ticket.

Brown, who is working on contingency for the woman, says she will not pay legal costs until the end of her case, and only if it’s a successful outcome.

“We will continue to fight the charge against her and ensure she is reasonably compensated for the damage that was done to her,” Brown tells the legal newswire.