Collusion at Fault Rules

Sobh v RBC General Ins., 2016 ONSC 7382 (CanLII)

17] The Fault Determination Rules[6], although not binding on tort actions, apportion liability in a rear-end collision at one-hundred percent (100%) for the driver of the rear vehicle and zero percent (0%) for the driver of the lead vehicle.

[18] Canadian courts have consistently found, generally speaking, the operator of a rear vehicle at fault for rear-end collisions.[7]<ref="Iannarella"/>

[19] The common law principle of fault attribution to the rear vehicle in rear-end collisions is not absolute and is subject to a careful examination of whether the rear-driver and, by necessity, the lead-driver were acting reasonably in the circumstances.[8]

[20] RBC has filed a series of cases where Courts of Appeal have seen fit to apportion liability in rear-end collisions. Examples include: (i) where a truck is parked in the middle of the road because it ran out of gas[9]; (ii) where a vehicle is stopped in the middle of a road in a winter storm to check the brakes[10]; and (iii) where a vehicle comes to an unexplained sudden stop.[11]