Owner of car crushed by fallen tree says City should pay for damages (PHOTOS)
In the summer, a tree fell and crushed Pham Thanh Nhi Le’s car in Vancouver. She thought the City, responsible for maintaining the tree, would compensate her. But she was surprised when they refused to take responsibility for the damage.
Le told Daily Hive Urbanized that her Mazda is totalled after a tree fell on it on Oak Street on August 19, 2022.
She went to the City, who wrote her a letter explaining that they would not take responsibility for the incident.
Le/Supplied
According to the City, the tree was inspected on July 5, 2022. It “exhibited normal shape and appearance for the species and had no outwardly visible signs of decay or disease.”
Then, on August 19, a report was made to the City regarding the tree. The tree failed three hours later, even though the City was making arrangements for crews to investigate.
Because gusty winds were experienced in Vancouver and “environmental factors are not within the city’s control,” the City is not claiming responsibility.
The letter from the City to Le
In an email to Le, the City said that “in situations such as this, so long as the City/Park Board has an inspection and maintenance program in place and meets the requirements of that program, the City would not be legally liable for tree or branch failures that might occur.”
The explanations are not good enough for Le. She maintains that a three-hour window was sufficient time to attend to the tree before it fell. Le said that four cars were damaged due to this tree falling, and she’s not the only one suffering. One of her neighbours posted a TikTok of the aftermath:
@bynhyle 😰😰😰 #news #vancouver #yvr #vancouverbc #vancouvernews #treefalloncar #trees #cityofvancouver #foryou #dangerous
In the letter, the City says that the wind that day was 45km/h, while Le maintains it was only 25km/h maximum the entire day and about 11 km/h at the time of the incident.
According to Le, the tree had been growing too tall for the neighbourhood, and it was not well maintained.
“We don’t know why they are rejecting us for their failure, not taking care of the tree for such a long time,” she said.
Now, Le is without her Mazda and left on the hook for her Ubers and ICBC deductible.
In April, a driver in South Vancouver died after a tree fell on their vehicle. And in the West End, a fallen tree trapped cars for days.
With stormy fall weather ahead after months of drought-like conditions, it’s possible that more trees could fall on cars in Vancouver this year.