Is a Defendant liable for failing to stop at the scene of an accident where a pedestrian was struck by a car?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from McNamara v. Porteus, 2003 ABQB 35 (CanLII):
The Defendant argued that to find him liable would be to impose a strict or absolute standard of liability upon him. No such standard applies, even in cases involving child pedestrians, as stated by Yanosik, J. in Weaver v. Buckle (1982), 35 A.R. 97 at 111: “... I appreciate that the standards applicable are those of reasonable care and prudence in the circumstances, and not standards of perfection, and that the law must not be stretched in cases of this kind, where natural sympathies are with the child, so as to create a virtual insurance against injuries to children ...”
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