Tribunal slams ICBC as Kelowna driver wins appeal
A Kelowna man found equally to blame for a car crash on Highway 97 two years ago, has successfully appealed the decision after he recorded a conversation he had right after the crash.
According to a Jan. 24 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal, Wesley Nygaard was in West Kelowna headed towards the Bennett Bridge when he collided with a vehicle in the lane next to him.
Both drivers accused the other of driving dangerously, changing lanes and cutting the other off, and ICBC ruled they were equally to blame for the incident.
However, Nygaard appealed ICBC's determination at the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
Last year, only 24 people took this route to appeal ICBCs determination of who was responsible and few were successful.
However, in Nygaard's case, he won.
The decision said Nygaard was in the left lane when the other vehicle pulled up in the right lane and attempted to merge in front of them. There wasn't enough room and the vehicles collided.
The other driver, who isn't named, told ICBC they had been travelling in the right lane for five minutes when they saw an aggressive driver weaving through traffic. The next thing they knew was that Nygaard had hit them.
However, Nygaard recorded the conversation the two drivers had when they shared their information which painted a different picture.
"You cut me off, then wouldn’t let me in the lane... when you speed up when someone is taking (sic) in the lane, you cut people off like a jackass," the other driver had said.
The Tribunal ruled the other driver's comments completely contradicted statements he made to ICBC and therefore didn't have any weight.
The Tribunal also ruled ICBC failed to provide any explanation for its decision "whatsoever."
"It did not explain how the relevant law applied to the facts, as it understood them. Without at least some explanation of its rationale... I find it has not reasonably determined responsibility," the Tribunal ruled.
The Tribunal's harsh words for ICBC continued.
"It should be obvious to ICBC that it needs to explain its decision, and simply citing evidence and law without explaining how they apply in the present case does not do so," the decision read.
The Tribunal found ICBC acted unreasonably by assigning half the blame on Nygaard.
"I am not persuaded that Mr. Nygaard was negligent such that they contributed to the accident, I find they were not responsible for it," the Tribunal ruled.
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