A B.C. Supreme Court judge has awarded a woman $917,969 in damages for injuries she suffered in an Oct. 20, 2019 accident on Highway 1 near Surrey.
Justice Matthew Kirchner said in his August. 4 decision that Lily Voong was a passenger in a car driven by her husband, defendant, Andy Valenzuela.
They were travelling east on Highway 1 in heavy rainfall on their way to Abbotsford. As they passed through Surrey, the car hydroplaned and Valenzuela lost control. The car crossed three lanes of traffic and collided with a concrete barrier causing it to flip over.
The judge said Voong sustained long-term injuries that have impaired her ability to work and have significantly impacted her life.
Kirchner said Valenzuela has admitted liability for the accident.
Voong had been employed before the accident but had been experiencing back and neck problems.
A doctor testified Voong would likely not have experienced her current and ongoing level of pain and difficulties in everyday life without the accident.
The accident
Dashcam video showed the accident, as the couple was travelling eastbound, as substantial.
“It appears that Mr. Valenzuela was driving at a high rate of speed as he passed other cars, including the one with the dashcam. The video shows a large trail of spray coming from the back of the car which may suggest it hydroplaned as Mr. Valenzuela states in his evidence,” Kirchner said.
The car veered quickly out of the HOV lane, crossed three other lanes of traffic, and collided at high speed into a concrete barrier at the side of the highway. That impact caused the car to flip.
“When the car came to a stop, Ms. Voong was suspended upside down, held in by her seatbelt,” Kirchner said. “She recalls seeing smoke in the car that caused her to panic. She undid her seatbelt and dropped down to land in a fetal position on the ceiling of the upside down car. She was not able to move.”
Voong was later extracted from the car by emergency responders and taken to hospital.
Kirchner said since the accident, Voong has suffered from consistent pain in her neck that radiates from the base of her skull to the end of her shoulders on both sides and from pain across her lower back that can extend into her legs.
And, he said, she suffers from severe headaches, “like someone is pounding a nail into her temple.”
In pre-trial examinations or discovery, Valenzuela said Voong is tired, forgetful, and not as sharp or on the ball as she was before the accident.
“He says she is withdrawn and they no longer talk like they used to. He cannot joke with her like he did before the accident,” Kirchner said. “He said she is irrationally hypervigilant when riding as a passenger in the car and acts out her anxieties in unusual behaviours.”
Broken down, the court award is $318,425 for future care, $300,000 for future earning capacity, $195,000 in non-pecuniary damages, $80,000 for past earning capacity, $6,544 in special damages and $18,000 for past household capacity.
