Does the Administrator have an obligation to contact the driver of a vehicle to establish the identity of the driver?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from Hagan v. Doe, 2003 ABQB 897 (CanLII):

To further support his position, counsel for the Administrator cites Donovan v. McCain Foods Ltd., [2003] N. J. No. 111 (S.C.T.D.), where the plaintiff and two other drivers were involved in a motor vehicle accident. At the time of the accident, the plaintiff did not feel pain, nor did she notice any damage to her vehicle. As a result, she did not obtain any identifying information from the other drivers. Later that day, the plaintiff began feeling pain and was ultimately diagnosed with a soft tissue injury. The court held that the obligation on the plaintiff to make reasonable inquiries arises “at the latest, when the claimant has knowledge of the fact of the accident.”(at para 43) There, the court held that the plaintiff could easily have ascertained the identity of the driver, but chose not to do so; therefore, her claim was dismissed. D. The Law in Ontario

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