Vancouver woman who was a passenger in four car crashes over eight years gets big payout

A woman who was the passenger in vehicles involved in four crashes from 2010 to 2018 has been awarded almost $740,000 in damages.

According to a recent Supreme Court of B.C. ruling, Alka Suri claimed she suffered chronic physical and psychological injuries as a result of the crashes — leading to loss of income, housekeeping capacity and costs of future care. The court heard Suri was also involved in a fifth car crash but was not injured, and also suffered an injury at work.

The first crash occurred on Oct. 12, 2010 when a vehicle merged into a lane in which Suri and her husband were driving, striking the left bumper and causing $1,400 in damage. This led to stiffness in Suri’s neck.

The second crash occurred less than a month later — on Nov. 3, 2010 — in a vehicle being driven by Suri’s daughter. In this case, their vehicle was rear-ended leading to $1,000 in damages. This led to knee pain for Suri and headaches.