B.C.’s highest court has overturned a cash settlement to a passenger injured in a car driven by a 15-year-old without a license.
The crash took place a decade ago near the Dry Lake campground, where five teens had travelled to via car.
The car was an 86 Camaro that belonged to one of the teens, a 17-year-old whose mother legally owned the car.
At the campsite, one of the teens said he wanted to have hotdogs but did not want to drive to get them, so he handed the keys to the plaintiff.
She, also 17, had a license, got into the drivers’ seat with another girl, who was 15.
Once in the car, the plaintiff realized the car had a standard transmission, so the girls switched places and the 15-year-old, who did not have a license, drove the car.
On the road, the teens allegedly got distracted by a problem with the CD player and the car rolled over a bank.
The plaintiff suffered third-degree burns and serious injuries.
According to the teen whose car it was, he did not know an unlicensed teen had taken the wheel of the car. Despite that, a trial judge ordered a $283,000 judgment for the teen passenger.
But the BC Court of Appeal has reversed that ruling.
In a unanimous decision, BC’s highest court says the 17-year-old ought to have known the car was being driven without the owner’s consent, even though, technically, she was not an adult.
The document also says neither of the teens were wearing a seatbelt.
~With files from Estefania Duran
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