Court Appearance - Jan. 30, 2006
Trial Name: Allstate Laszlo Laszlo ats. Jennifer Fox
Ontario Superior Court Of Justice
Trial Held at: 80 Dundas Street, London
Presided by Madame Justice Rady
Trial Commencement Date: January 30, 2006
Trial Details
The plaintiff, Ms. Jennifer Fox, was the driver of a 1997 Jeep TJ that was stopped at a traffic signal. Mr. Farro was the driver of a 1989 Ford Escort that also stopped behind Ms. Fox’s vehicle. The Escort was accelerated forward and its front end struck the rear end of the Jeep. Ms. Fox reported a list of incapacitating injuries including lower back and cervical pain. Retained by the defense Gorski Consulting was asked to conduct investigations to determine the collision severity and provide an opinion whether the alleged injuries could in probability be associated with a collision of that severity.
In conducting our assessment we performed a survey of Escorts and Jeeps to establish height and body geometry to assess how the two vehicles might have made contact. We reviewed the police information as well as transcripts from Examinations for Discovery. We reported our previous testing involving accelerations from a stopped position. We conducted computer simulations to demonstrate the likely motions of the vehicles and the collision severity. We summarized past research regarding controlled tests using human subjects in low speed rear end impacts. These activities were discussed in a written report as well as in testimony at trial. Based on our assessment we provided the following conclusions:
- The fact that both driver stated that Mr. Farro stopped his vehicle behind Ms. Fox was a critical factor in assessing the maximum possible collision severity.
- We expected that Mr. Farro would bring his vehicle to a halt about 2 to 3 metres behind the rear end of the Jeep.
- Without accelerator pedal application it would be expected that Mr. Farro’s Escort would accelerate to a speed of 4 to 5 km/h upon impact.
- Even with the Escort’s impact speed of 8 km/h this would result in a change-in-speed in the Jeep in the general range of 5 km/h.
- Impact testing from numerous studies involving human volunteers shows that no significant injuries could be expected in collision similar to that experienced by Ms. Fox.
The jury’s verdict was primarily in favour of the defense.