Ontario court makes final judgment on horrendous 401 crash

21 July 2005

Schneider National Carriers was found liable and ordered to pay $198,000 (plus interest and court costs) in the final judgment made in a 1999 multi-vehicle crash on Highway 401 that claimed eight lives.
This brings to an end litigation stemming from one of the worst highway accidents in Canadian history.
'Operation Fog' - the title of the police investigation report - involved an accident that occurred in the midst of thick morning fog on September 3, 1999 (Labour Day weekend) when more than 71 vehicles traveling westbound on Highway 401 collided outside of Windsor. In the westbound lanes, seven people
were killed, many of them incinerated in their vehicles as relatives and strangers desperately tried to free them. Another 45 people were seriously injured.
Two Schneider's trucks were among the vehicles in the collision, but the company had refused to accept liability.
"The series of accidents resulted in multiple lawsuits involving very complex issues," said Cameron Godden of the firm Bell, Temple which coordinated the legal case on behalf of the insurance companies for the 71 vehicles involved in the westbound crash. "They were settled relatively quickly, avoiding years of protracted litigation."
Godden coordinated and managed the Defense Response Committee which brought together defendants, insurance companies and their lawyers, the Ministry of Transportation, and the OPP to find a reasonable and efficient way of defending and settling the cases.
"The Defense Response Committee proactively organized and sought out the involvement of the insurers of 71 westbound vehicles," Godden said. "Then we approached and obtained the cooperation of the various plaintiffs' counsel. The lawyers made joint application to The Honourable Mr. Justice Gordon
Thomson, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, on how to deal with the cases.
Each case was processed on the issues of liability and damage. After settlement of the claims, 69 of the 71 parties agreed on how to share the payout and went to trial against the two remaining defendants from Schneider who had declined to settle."
Godden said he believes that no Defense Response Committee has ever been put together on such a massive scale in Canada before.
In December 2003, all claims had been settled for $6-million by the defendants.
About Bell, Temple Bell, Temple, Barristers & Solicitors is a Toronto law firm that practices civil litigation including insurance law, personal injury, negligence, medical malpractice, personal liability and property loss.
For further information: or to arrange an interview, please contact Mary Ann Freedman, Freedman & Associates, Tel: (416) 868-1500, Email: mafreedman@freedmanandassociates.com

Source: NewsWire

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