Robert Ben weighs in to Toronto Star after province sued over removed speed camera near Toronto school

Thomson Rogers LLP Partner Robert Ben was recently quoted in the Toronto Star, commenting on a lawsuit filed against a driver, the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario after a 15-year-old boy was struck and severely injured outside his Toronto school. Ben is not involved in the case but was asked to weigh in on the broader legal questions it raises.

A camera removed, then a crash

On March 25, a 15-year-old boy was severely injured at a Toronto crosswalk where a speed camera had recently been removed under a provincial directive. His family is now suing the driver, the city and the province, alleging the province knew the risks of removing the camera but failed to replace it with other safety measures despite the establishment of a provincial $210 million fund to help affected municipalities transition to implementing alternative traffic calming measures.

Not just a question of driver negligence

Ben says the case is about more than one driver’s alleged conduct behind the wheel.

“It raises broader questions about government accountability when an existing road safety measure, automated speed enforcement cameras, were removed from a location that was previously identified as requiring some enhanced safety,” said Ben. “It’s not merely a case of alleged negligence against the driver, but it really raises issues about pedestrian protection and government decision-making.”

Ben also addressed the province’s attempt to shield itself from liability when it ended the camera program. Reviewing the legislation behind the removal, he concluded that the protections written into it were narrower than they might first appear. In other words, Ben is not saying the government would necessarily be found liable. Rather, he is pointing out that the province’s speed-camera removal legislation appears to protect the province and municipalities from contract claims by automated speed enforcement companies, not from every possible civil claim.

That leaves open the possibility that an injured person or family could still try to argue that removing a known safety measure and failing to implement transitional alternative measures contributed to a collision, though they would still face the usual legal hurdles of proving duty of care, causation and negligence, and have to establish that any any failure to implement appropriate alternative measures was an operational decision that could attract civil liability for the government.

What this case may mean for other families

Ben’s comments suggest this is a case personal injury lawyers might want to watch closely. The key question is whether Ontario made a purely policy decision to remove speed cameras, which courts will generally won’t interfere with, or whether Ontario and the City assumed operational responsibilities for implementing that transition, which could potentially attract negligence liability.

Read the full article on the Toronto Star website to learn more about the lawsuit and the questions it raises about speed camera removal across Ontario.

Robert M. Ben is a Personal Injury Lawyer and a Partner at Thomson Rogers LLP. Robert is listed in peer-reviewed publications – Lexpert® and The Best Lawyers™ in Canada and is ranked AV preeminent in Martindale-Hubbell ®. Robert can be reached at 416-868-3168 or by email.

About Thomson Rogers LLP’s Personal Injury Group

Thomson Rogers LLP is a Toronto-based law firm with almost a century of experience representing plaintiffs in personal injury, medical malpractice and civil litigation matters across Ontario. The firm’s Personal Injury Group is recognized as a leading Ontario personal injury practice, known for standing with clients through the hardest moments of their lives.