BC driver blamed in icy road collision sues ICBC for insurance refund

EB Adventure Photography/Shutterstock

BC is no stranger to icy road conditions, with January’s recent snowfall seeing cars sliding all over the place. Well, one icy road accident two years ago has led to a tense dispute between a driver and his vehicle’s insurance company.

Jan Buksowicz had a rough road incident on November 7, 2022, when he was driving along Begbie Road in Kelowna in snowy conditions. In a decision detailed by the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal, Buksowicz collided with multiple other vehicles after turning a corner and seeing a truck and trailer blocking the road about 70 to 80 metres ahead of him.

According to the documents, the truck and trailer had attempted to travel up a hill on the road but spun out and ended up blocking both lanes.

Buksowicz said that despite driving his car with suitable winter tires under 30 km per hour, ICBC “improperly held him 100% responsible for the accident.”

His solution? To sue ICBC for a total of $1,042, including a deductible and increased insurance premiums he paid following the accident.

Sergey Nemirovsky/Shutterstock

According to the decision, Buksowicz provided various pieces of evidence to prove it was an “inevitable accident” and that his insurance company should have paid for the damages.

He provided a police report detailing the accident and the third-party vehicles involved, witnesses that can testify to the slipperiness of the road, and a weather report for the day of the accident showing that no warnings were in place that it was unsafe to drive.

In response, ICBC defended their stance on Buksowicz’s responsibility using a series of reasons.

Firstly, ICBC argued that he should have been able to pull over and avoid the congested vehicles as the Ford truck travelling ahead of him was able to pull over safely. However, the court found that other vehicles along the road left him with “little room to manoeuvre” and dismissed this point.

Then, they argued that “a reasonable and prudent driver would have anticipated icy conditions and adjusted their route accordingly.” Again, this argument did not pan out in their favour. The court dismissed this defence based on the weather report that Buksowicz provided that showed there were no advisories to stay off the road.

In their final counterargument, ICBC argued that Buksowicz had a duty to drive at a slow speed in consideration of the road conditions. However, the court decided that it could not be proven that the accident would have been avoidable if he had been driving at a slower speed than the 30 km per hour reported.

You might also like:

Buksowicz won his case, with the final decision finding that ICBC wrongly assessed his responsibility and that the accident was inevitable given the slippery conditions.

ICBC was ordered to reimburse Buksowicz a total of $1,254.35, including $500 for his deductible, $542 for increased premiums he paid following the accident, $37.35 in pre-judgment interest, and $175 in court fees.