Train passenger awarded nearly $44K after suing TransLink for fall
TransLink has been ordered by the BC Supreme Court to pay a man nearly $44,000 after he injured himself tripping over a low concrete ramp at a transit station.
Joseph Ramos filed the lawsuit against the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (Translink) after he fell on April 24, 2018, shortly after arriving at the Port Coquitlam station on the West Coast Express around 6 pm.
While other passengers followed the brick path, according to the decision, Ramos veered off and walked across the grass (like some others) toward a bus stop.
As he was walking, he tripped over the “hidden hazard,” where the ramp is about 10 cm above the ground under grass and fell forward on his right side.
According to the court document, his right hand, shoulder, leg, and knee hit the concrete ramp and he suffered lacerations to his fingers on his right hand. His pants ripped, and he bled.
Ramos said he was in immediate pain and could not move his right arm. After he was transported to Eagle Ridge Hospital by ambulance, staff reset his right shoulder, and he was fitted with a sling to immobilize the right arm.
According to an expert in orthopedic trauma and lower extremity reconstruction who treated Ramos for his injuries, he said he recommended Ramos wear a sling for two to three weeks and attend physiotherapy.
In December 2022, Ramos said in there was little to no change to his symptoms from his right shoulder and right knee injury plateaued around early 2019.
“His injuries have limited the physical activities with his two young children because playing with them can aggravate his shoulder. Heavier maintenance tasks around the house can also be difficult and cause pain,” the decision reads.
Ramos claims Translink had to have known the concrete ramp’s raised edge was a tripping hazard to passengers. In his argument, he added that Translink was negligent in failing to reduce the hazard as it failed to “abate the hazard by ensuring that the change in ground elevation to the ramp was visible to passengers.”
TransLink argument
However, Translink argues it “fulfilled its duty of care” to Ramos because there was a safe alternate route along a brick walkway connecting the train platform to the bus loop. Translink added Ramos “assumed the risk of injury by taking a shortcut that took him across a patch of grass and onto the ramp.”
Translink also argued Ramos should be held fully or partially at fault for his injuries since, “with a modicum of awareness,” he would be able to notice and avoid the fall.
“Translink points out that there is no evidence of anyone else injuring themselves by tripping and falling on the concrete ramp. Mr. Ramos himself passed through this station on a regular basis, presumably taking a similar route to his bus, for approximately two years, without injuring himself,” the document reads.
Decision
Photographs taken around the time of the fall were provided as evidence, and according to the court documents, it showed that the height of the grass was uneven along the edge of the ramp over which Ramos tripped. Photographs taken at a later unknown date show the ramp edge is visible when the grass is cut.
“In this case, the tripping hazard existed when the grass obscured the raised edge of the concrete ramp and a pedestrian approached the ramp at a particular angle. This may explain why there is no evidence of prior incidents,” the judge said.
The judge said they were “not fully satisfied” with TransLink’s diligence in providing a paved pathway between the train platform and the bus loop. This was because passengers would walk off the pathway and take a more direct path toward their bus stop with “no apparent risk.”
“In this case, the direct route taken by Mr. Ramos to his bus stop was a reasonable and apparently safe choice,” the judge said.
“In my view, the combination of the raised edge of the ramp and the uneven grass height at the transition from the grass to the ramp surface on the day that he tripped created a hazard that caused Mr. Ramos to fall,” they added.
The judge accepted Ramos’ evidence that the grass obscured the raised edge causing him to not see it.
“One could not reasonably expect Mr. Ramos, while navigating his way through a busy transit station, to be looking at his feet. Rather, one would expect him to be maintaining an awareness, as he says he was, of the bus traffic and other pedestrians around him.”
The judge also said they accepted that Ramos continues to suffer pain persistent with the injuries he sustained from the fall in 2018, “but not the full extent of the discomfort and limitations he describes in his December 2022 affidavit.”
Ultimately, the judge said Translink breached its duty of care to Ramos and “is 100% at fault for the injuries caused by his fall.”
TranksLink was ordered to pay $38,000 in non-pecuniary damages, $5,822.03 in special damages, and $1,644.29 in health care costs to the Ministry of Health.