Summary judgment motion dismissed in ATV accident case

An Ontario Superior Court justice has dismissed an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in a case that revolved around consent to drive an ATV off the owner’s property, says Toronto personal injury lawyer Stacey Stevens, partner with Thomson Rogers.

In May 2007, the plaintiff, Steven’s client, was seriously injured while a passenger on an ATV owned by the defendant and insured by Allstate Insurance Company of Canada.

In Fernandes v. Araujo, 2014 ONSC 6432, Allstate sought a summary judgment dismissing the action against the ATV owner because it claimed the woman driving the ATV was doing so on a highway without the owner’s consent, “and therefore he cannot be vicariously liable for her alleged negligence,” the decision reads. The court dismissed the motion, finding the owner did not expressly say the ATV couldn’t be taken off property – and did nothing to prevent it from happening.

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