Car Accident

Published on: June 29, 2023

Common Long Weekend Accidents in Ontario

The July 1st Canada Day Long Weekend is fast approaching. People are excited to celebrate Canada Day.

Having practiced in the field of personal injury law in Ontario for over 2 decades, I can tell you that there are patterns for car accident cases.

Would it surprise you if I told that that our office sees a spike in car accident; and other accident related claims shortly after a long weekend? While I cannot single out the Canada Day Long Weekend in particular; what I can say is that we see a spike in accident calls shortly after a long weekend.

There are very good reasons for this.

For starters, many people are on the move over a long weekend. They are all out and about. Going on a trip, driving off to see friends, headed camping or to a beach to relax. Either way you slice it, more people are on the move over a long weekend, compared to a normal weekend.

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Published on: June 7, 2023

Hit and Run Accidents in Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

What happens when someone hits you with their vehicle, and they drive off from the accident scene? The at fault driver is unidentified. The collision took place so quickly, that you weren’t able to get a license plate number. The at fault driver obviously didn’t stop to check if you are ok; or to exchange insurance information. Or perhaps the injuries are so bad that you loose consciousness; or you are in so much pain that you can’t track down the at fault driver.

How do you handle these situations? How do you sue a party who cannot be identified?

These are great questions.

These types of unidentified driver situations happen more than you might think.

Often, when they happen, the at fault driver has their nefarious reasons for not stopping. They might be trying to avoid all interaction with the police because they shouldn’t be driving; the are operating a vehicle illegally; they have something illegal/stolen in their vehicle; they are operating a stolen vehicle; or a vehicle which they aren’t allowed to be driving; they are unlicensed; they are uninsured; or perhaps they have so many car accidents on their driving record that one more will result in an automatic suspension of their driver’s license; or a dramatic increase of their car insurance premiums. In all of these situations, the at fault driver is attempting to avoid any interaction with authorities.

In other cases, the at fault driver may not have even known that they were involved in an accident at all. They may have not noticed, or felt any impact resulting from the collision. This can happen when a large vehicle makes the slightest contact with a cyclist or a pedestrian. The impact to the large vehicle is hardly noticeable on account of the size of the vehicle. On the other hand, the impact to the pedestrian or cyclist can be catastrophic

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Published on: May 11, 2023

Suing your Mom or Dad or another family member in a car accident case

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

When I was a young personal injury lawyer, an odd case appeared on my desk.

The Plaintiff was an older automobile executive, who broke 3 vertebrae, torn his rotator cuff and fractured his skull in a car accident.

The injuries were quite significant. They prevented the client from returning to work, or engaging in his usual personal care and recreational activities. His life would be forever changed as a result of the car accident.

What was odd was that the car accident was a single car accident. The client was a passenger in the vehicle. The driver had lost control, drove the car off the shoulder of the road, and flipped the vehicle into a ditch along a deserted country road. I imagine that the car accident could have been even more serious had there been more vehicles involved.

So, in that case, the passenger would sue the driver for having lost control and flipped over the vehicle.

In this case, the driver was the client’s own daughter.

Isn’t that strange. A father, needing to sue his own daughter for his personal injuries arising from a car accident. It’s not like the daughter intentionally tried to flip over the vehicle. It was, by all accounts; an accident.

But how does that work, and what are the ramifications of a father, having to sue his own child for damages in a personal injury case? Can the daughter go to jail? Will her credit rating be ruined forever? Does she need to hire a personal injury lawyer to defend her claim? Will she need to go to trial and square off against her own father in open Court? Will this father/daughter personal injury case get really nasty such that Dad will take away Daughter’s TV and cell phone privileges?

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Published on: April 12, 2023

Goldfinger Injury Lawyers & Raptors Basketball

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

When I first started the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, I often ended each entry with a short blurb about my favourite sports team; the Toronto Raptors.

I’ve been a Toronto Raptors fan since Day 1. I was an NBA basketball fan long before the Raptors came to Toronto, so convincing me to root for the Raptors was an easy sell.

I remember the nay sayers when we drafted Damon Stoudamire as the franchise’s first ever draft pick. The rise, and fall of Vince Carter (along with his graduation ceremony on the same day as a Game #7 playoff game vs. Allen Iverson). I remember the promise of so many failed draft picks and free agent signings: Michael Bradley, Yogi Stewart, Rafael Aruajo, Aleksandar Radojević, Rasul Butler, Hedo Turkoglu, and my all time favourite: Uros Slokar.

I was there for what I believe was the most poorly attended game in Raptor history: vs. the Charlotte Bobcats back when the Bobcats wore those ugly orange uniforms on a Tuesday night of a heavy snowstorm. I think Gerald Henderson went off that night.

I was there when Joey Graham was promised to be the “next great guy” because he had a remarkable NBA physique. Those “next great guys” came and went. From Jamario Moon to Sonny Weems, to the Slovenian Gangster Primoz Brezec, just to name a few. Continue reading →

Published on: March 6, 2023

Personal Responsibility in a Personal Injury Case

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Finding a personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable, kind, sympathetic, and who will fight hard for you is important.

A good personal injury lawyer will listen, and give you advice to hopefully put you in a better position to move forward.

But, a personal injury lawyer doesn’t live with you.

A personal injury lawyer isn’t there when you go and see the doctor, to tell him/her what’s wrong with you. Nor can a personal injury lawyer force you to see your doctor. Nor can a personal injury lawyer call in a prescription medication on your behalf, attend at the pharmacy to pick it up, and force you to take said medication.

Everyday everyone makes decisions. Some decisions are complicated legal decisions. But other decisions are daily care and everyday decisions which cannot be delegated to another person unless you are a minor or a person who the Court has deemed to be under a disability.

Some decisions are helpful for a personal injury case like making the decision to take your prescription medication, as directed by your doctor; attending at medical appointments and therapy appointments.

Other decisions are hurtful to a personal injury case like not taking your prescription medication, as directed; and skipping out of medical or treatment appointments. Other bad decisions for a personal injury case may include doing things that your doctor said you should not be doing (like bungee jumping after a serious accident, taking a long flight or going on a long vacation without asking your doctor if that’s a wise thing to do).

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Published on: January 18, 2023

Driving in the 1960’s vs. Driving Today: A Study in Distracted Driving

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Distracted driving kills, just like drunk driving kills.

Driving requires concentration and focus. Today’s cars and our mobile technology try to shift our driving focus away from the road, and on to some type of screen. Lots of beeps, lights and vibrations to get us looking anywhere but on the road.

What would it be like to go back in time, and drive in an era before cell phones, touch screens in cars and Android Auto or Apple Car Play? Let’s take a look!

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Published on: December 14, 2022

The biggest secret in personal injury law….

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

The law, above all else, ought to be transparent.

It should NOT be a secret society whereby only industry insiders have knowledge, power and insight that the general public does not have.

When a personal injury case goes to trial, the jury should be informed of how things work, so that they can make a fair and just decision. The jury should never be kept in the dark about how the law works, so that they can make an informed decision which will invariably impact the lives of the parties to the litigation.

Yet, the practice of personal injury law in Ontario has many secrets. You would think that it’s neither nice, nor fair to have secrets which are withheld from a jury during the course of a personal injury trial.

Yet there are secrets which personal injury lawyers and judges cannot share with the Jury until only after the Jury has made up their mind.

What are these secrets you ask? Let me share them with you.

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Published on: October 11, 2022

Suing your Employer for a Workplace Injury

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Our law firm gets a lot of calls from injured workers.

They have very serious injuries and wish to sue their employer. They allege that their employer was negligent; allowed for unsafe work conditions to exist which they knew, or ought to have known of; or permitted the worker to use unsafe equipment which needed to be replaced or better maintained.

All of these scenarios, in a non-workplace environment; are grounds for a winning lawsuit by an injured party.

Unfortunately for injured workers; the workplace is NOT a normal environment when it comes to litigating personal injury matters.

Most workers have heard of the Workplace Insurance & Insurance Board (WSIB).

When a worker is injured on the job, s/he has to file a claim through the WSIB to receive benefits. Even if the employer is not registered with the WSIB, the worker needs to file a claim. Some employers are exempt from the WSIB (banks and law firms), but most employers MUST pay premiums into the program.

For many injured workers, WSIB benefits aren’t enough. They want more. They want to be vindicated with a win in Court, or some form of monetary settlement for their injuries.

There is nothing wrong with having these feelings; particularly when the employer could have prevented the injury had they done a better job at protecting their workers and providing for a safe work environment.

Unfortunately the “suing route” via personal injury lawsuit is NOT in the cards for most injured workers.

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Published on: September 21, 2022

Brian Goldfinger and the Case of the Catastrophic Car Accident

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Car accidents happen. They are unpredictable and don’t discriminate based on age, gender, religion and socio-economic status. They happen to poor people, rich people, middle class people, retired people, disabled people and gainfully employed people. There isn’t any method to the selection of an accident victim. It’s completely random. Serious car accidents happen to good people who are simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They fall victim to fate, time and circumstance. Some accidents are avoidable. While others are not.

This Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post will tell the tale of Brian Goldfinger and the Catastrophic Car Accident.

The term “catastrophic” is a very important legal term when it comes to car accident law in the Province of Ontario. In plain English, “catastrophic” is a word used to describe sudden and very serious damage; as having a very significant impact.

But at law, the term “catastrophic” means something different altogether. Under the SABS and in the Insurance Act, the term “catastrophic” is used as a definer to establish an accident victim’s injuries are very serious. Being deemed “catastrophic” by your car insurer means that your injuries have met a medico-legal definition. Once that definition is met, the catastrophic car accident victim is entitled to a wider variety, and an greater amount of benefits then another accident victim whose injuries have not been deemed catastrophic. For example, a catastrophic accident victim is entitled to case management services. A non-catastrophic accident victim is not. A catastrophic accident victim is entitled to a combined attendant care and med/rehab limit of $1,000,000 for treatment and services deemed to be both reasonable and necessary. The limits for a non-catastrophic car accident victim are either $3,500 under the Minor Injury Guideline; or $65,000 under the regular guidelines.

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Published on: August 12, 2022

Non Earner Benefits: What are they?

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Let’s break things down in really easy to understand terms.

If you have been involved in a car accident, you are entitled to accident benefits from your own car insurance company.

If you didn’t have car insurance at the time of the accident because you were a passenger, cyclist or pedestrian; then don’t worry. The law has thought of that. Under the priority rules of the Insurance Act, the other motorist’s car insurance needs to cover your accident benefits.

If the other driver didn’t have any car insurance; and you didn’t have any car insurance; and nobody can find a car insurer to claim from in relation to the subject car accident: don’t worry! The law has thought of that as well. Under the priority rules of the Insurance Act, the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund (MVACF) steps in to the shoes of where the auto insurer should be and pays out of the claim. Basically, the government steps in to the shoes of the hole left by the lack of private insurance for the case.

Once we have established insurance, it’s time for the injured accident victim to make a claim for benefits.

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