Yatit Singh, a 39-year-old electrician from Surrey, sought up to $231,000 in damages related to injuries he’s sustained in four of the crashes in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
SURREY – An Indo-Canadian man who either can be described as unlucky or accident prone has won a huge ICBC settlement after B.C. Supreme Court judge ordered ICBC to pay $111,000 to Yatit Singh who was involved in no less than five Surrey traffic crashes within four years.
Singh, a 39-year-old electrician from Surrey, sought up to $231,000 in damages related to injuries he’s sustained in four of the crashes in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, reported the Province newspaper.
He’d actually been involved in five over that time, but didn’t claim damages for one of them because he’d been found at fault in that case.
Of those crashes he sued the insurance company over, the first happened on 96th Avenue when he was driving to work. He’d stopped his pickup truck for two ambulances that pulled out in front of him, was rear-ended, felt “tingly” and drove back home. The court heard Singh developed a sore back, shoulder and arm. He saw his doctor, was off work for three days, and started physiotherapy treatment several weeks later.
Roughly 11 months later, Singh was driving to work on Fraser Highway and found himself having to brake for a construction zone while he was heading down a hill.
The court heard he was rear-ended by a semi-truck that pushed his vehicle into one in front of him. This crash left him with a numb arm and chronic headaches. Singh testified this second crash intensified his injuries from the first. He ended up taking two days off work.
Then, about 18 months later, Singh hit another vehicle while he was trying to turn his pickup truck at a four-way stop. He told the court he didn’t see his doctor after this one because the symptoms arising from the previous two crashes hadn’t changed.
Six months later, while driving on 140th Street with his wife, Singh was making a right turn into his sister-in-law’s driveway when his vehicle was rear-ended. The driver who hit them took off, leaving Singh with a “pounding headache.”
Thirteen months later, Singh’s vehicle was rear-ended by a pickup truck as he was waiting at a red light on Edmonds in Burnaby. This crash left him with “soreness” in his lower back.
Justice Bruce Greyell found Singh to be a credible witness and a “modest, unassuming plaintiff who is struggling stoically to deal with his injuries.”
The court heard Singh has a hard time lifting up his kids when he’s playing with them and his arm feels “heavy” all the time.
ICBC’s counsel had unsuccessfully argued that his award be limited to $55,000.
Courtesy the Province newspaper
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