Car Accidents in the United States for British Columbia Residents

British Columbia residents who are seriously injured or killed in a motor-vehicle collision in the United States can pursue compensation against the driver, company, employer, vehicle owner, or other party responsible for the collision.

These cases can be very different from claims arising in British Columbia. U.S. law may provide substantially different damages, insurance coverage, discovery procedures, and litigation options. Identifying every responsible party and every available insurance policy can be critical in a serious U.S. car accident case.

Our firm represents B.C. residents in serious U.S. car accident and wrongful-death claims and handles those cases from British Columbia. We also represent residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in appropriate serious U.S. injury and wrongful-death cases.

If you are concerned about American hospital bills, travel insurance, ICBC, or insurer reimbursement claims, read our U.S. Medical Bills Guide for Western Canadians.

How U.S. Car Accident Claims Work for B.C. Residents

For the U.S. car accident cases our firm accepts, we handle the claim from British Columbia and, when a lawsuit is required, file it in the appropriate U.S. District Court in the state where the collision occurred.

When our client is a Canadian citizen residing in British Columbia and the defendant is a U.S. citizen or business, federal diversity jurisdiction provides the basis for bringing the case in U.S. federal court. The law of the state where the collision occurred generally governs the underlying injury or wrongful-death claim, while the litigation proceeds under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Greg Lauer has more than 20 years of U.S. federal litigation and trial experience and has handled more than 90 jury trials. Our firm handles serious U.S. motor-vehicle cases from the initial investigation through settlement or federal-court litigation, including insurance coverage analysis, discovery, depositions, motions, expert evidence, mediation, and trial preparation.

Which Law Applies?

Filing the case in federal court does not mean that federal personal-injury law determines the client’s damages. The federal court generally applies the substantive law of the state where the collision occurred.

That state’s law determines issues such as negligence, comparative fault, available damages, defences, and limitation periods.

For example, if a B.C. resident is seriously injured in a car crash in California, the lawsuit can proceed in U.S. District Court in California under diversity jurisdiction while California negligence and damages law governs the underlying claim.

Who Can Bring a Claim?

Depending on the circumstances and the law of the state where the collision occurred, a claim may be brought by:

• the injured B.C. resident;
• a parent or guardian on behalf of an injured child;
• an estate representative when the injured person has died; or
• eligible family members in a wrongful-death claim.

Common Types of U.S. Car Accident Cases

We handle serious injury and wrongful-death claims arising from:

• distracted or impaired driving;
• speeding and reckless driving;
• intersection and left-turn collisions;
• commercial vehicle and trucking crashes;
• rideshare crashes involving Uber or Lyft;
• pedestrian and cyclist collisions; and
• hit-and-run crashes.

What Compensation May Be Available?

Damages in U.S. car accident cases vary by state and the facts of the case.

Economic damages may include:

• past and future medical expenses;
• rehabilitation and long-term care costs;
• lost income and loss of future earning capacity; and
• other out-of-pocket losses caused by the collision.

Non-economic damages available under the applicable state’s law may include:

• pain and suffering;
• emotional distress and mental anguish;
• loss of enjoyment of life; and
• loss of companionship in appropriate cases.

When a collision results in death, wrongful-death or survival damages may also include:

• funeral and burial expenses;
• loss of financial support and household services;
• loss of care, guidance, and companionship; and
• the deceased person’s pre-death damages through a survival claim where permitted by state law.

Insurance Coverage and Why It Matters

Serious U.S. car accident cases may involve far more insurance than the policy covering the individual driver. Depending on the facts, available coverage can include:

• the at-fault driver’s auto liability policy;
• employer or commercial liability policies;
• trucking and commercial vehicle coverage;
• umbrella and excess insurance;
• uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage; and
• rideshare coverage where applicable.

Identifying every potentially responsible party and every available insurance policy is one of the most important parts of our investigation.

In one California case, the driver who struck our B.C. client was not driving a company vehicle. Our investigation nevertheless established a connection between the driver and his employment and identified an employer insurance policy that provided an additional $1 million in coverage.

Read how we handled that U.S. injury claim, including the investigation, medical evidence, policy-limit demand, settlement, and negotiation of the client’s U.S. medical bills.

How Fault Is Handled

Most U.S. states use some form of comparative negligence, meaning responsibility for a collision can be divided among the people or companies involved and the amount recovered may be affected by the injured person’s share of fault.

The exact rule varies by state, which is another reason the law of the state where the accident occurred matters.

Time Limits for U.S. Car Accident Claims

Every state has deadlines for filing personal-injury and wrongful-death lawsuits. Many states use limitation periods of two or three years, but shorter deadlines and special notice requirements can apply in particular cases.

Filing a cross-border case in federal court does not extend the applicable state-law deadline. Missing the limitation period can result in losing the right to bring the claim.

Do I Need to Hire a Lawyer in the State Where the Accident Happened?

A B.C. resident does not need to find and retain a separate personal-injury lawyer in California, Arizona, Florida, or another state simply because the collision happened there.

For the serious cross-border cases we accept, the client retains our firm in British Columbia, and we handle the U.S. claim. We investigate the accident, deal directly with the U.S. insurance companies and defendants, obtain the necessary medical and expert evidence, negotiate the claim, and file and litigate the case in U.S. federal court when necessary.

This allows our clients to work with their lawyer in British Columbia while we pursue their case in the United States.

Free, Confidential Consultation

If you are a British Columbia resident who was seriously injured or lost a loved one in a U.S. motor-vehicle collision, contact our firm for a confidential consultation.

Written by Greg Lauer, Barrister & Solicitor