More On Reasonable Care Analysis In All-terrain Vehicle Accident Case

• Author: Ms Victoria Edwards
• Law Firm: Siskinds LLP
• Published date: 05 January 2023

A recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice case, Desrochers (Litigation guardian of) v. McGinnis [2022] O.J. No. 3891, revisited the principles of proving negligence in a case where the plaintiff, Megan Desrochers, was injured while operating the defendants' all-terrain vehicle (ATV). (For link to part one of this series, see below).

Standard of care

The real issue in this case is whether any of the defendants breached the standard of care. The general approach to determining the appropriate standard of care is found in Ryan v. Victoria (City) [1999] 1 S.C.R. 201 at para. 28:

Conduct is negligent if it creates an objectively unreasonable risk of harm. To avoid liability, a person must exercise the standard of care that would be expected of an ordinary, reasonable and prudent person in the same circumstances. The measure of what is reasonable depends on the facts of each case, including the likelihood of a known or foreseeable harm, the gravity of that harm, and the burden or cost which would be incurred to prevent the injury. In addition, one may look to external indicators of reasonable conduct, such as custom, industry practice, and statutory or regulatory standards.

With respect to each defendant:

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