A cyclist has been awarded more than $240,000 for injuries sustained in a Burnaby crash that was mostly his fault.
On the morning of July 14, 2017, Bobby Joe Carrero was doing three things wrong as he rode his bicycle south beside North Road, according to a B.C. Supreme Court ruling Monday.
He was coasting down a sidewalk; he entered a crosswalk while still on his bike; and he ignored the signal that told him he shouldn’t cross, according to the ruling.
Then, at Rochester Street, a car cut him off, and he slammed into it, launching into the air and hitting the pavement farther into the crosswalk.
He went on to sue the driver of the car, Na Young Park, for more than $3 million – minus about 25% to 50% to account for what he saw as his share of the blame.
Most of his injuries, except damage to his left ankle, had resolved by the time the case went to court in February and March of this year, according to the ruling.
But Carrero, 37, said that injury had only grown worse and prevented him from returning to work in his former position as an ironworker and construction safety representative.
Park, however, denied Carrero’s claims, saying the crash had been entirely his fault and arguing his ankle pain was more likely to have been caused by his flat feet and aggravated by his obese condition.
After hearing from a family doctor and an occupational therapist, however, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Warren Milman sided with Carrero, concluding the chronic pain in his ankle had indeed been caused by the accident.
Milman also assigned Park 35% of the blame for the crash.
“I am satisfied that Mr. Carrero was ‘there to be seen’ and that Ms. Park could have avoided the accident with reasonable care,” he said.
Milman said both parties should have taken greater care as they approached the intersection, but he ultimately assigned Carrero a greater share of the blame (65%) because Carrero was the one who hit Park – and he had been breaking multiple rules before he did.
Carrero was awarded $686,010.15 for damages, future loss of earning capacity and cost of future care.
“After accounting for Mr. Carrero’s 65% contributory negligence, I am awarding him net damages of $240,103.55,” Milman concluded.
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