Assignment 1: Student Driver Case Review

Craig Kelba, Sean Lewis, Emily Paul, Omanthi Pussepitiya

University of Calgary

Professor: Dr. Parsons

EDUC 525, L02

Assignment 1: Student Driver Case Review

 Analysis

Sylvia Ballard

Sylvia Ballard (Ballard) was the driver of the car, and therefore assumed a duty of care towards

her passenger Prim Jasmin (Jasmin). The standard of care that Ballard held was one of a reasonable

person who held a driver’s license, and hence was qualified to operate a vehicle. “Ballard was charged

with, and pleaded guilty to, Driving Carelessly…” (University of Calgary, 2017), however we believe that

the scope of liability should encompass much more as she allowed for her passenger to use an inoperable

seatbelt. As a qualified and reasonable person, Ballard should have foreseen the dangers of allowing a

passenger to use an inoperable seatbelt and as well as the dangers of swerving around vehicles or

roadblocks, especially when driving at high speeds (78 km/h).

Alberta Occupant Restraint Program states that a seat belt cannot be “…render[ed] partly

or wholly inoperative” (2009) and as Ballard had known that her seatbelt was “inoperative”, she

was violating said act. Ballard’s careless driving and faulty seatbelt lead to a dangerous situation

for herself and Jasmin thereby violating her standard of care while driving on a highway. If

Ballard acted in accordance to the Alberta Occupant Restraint Program (2009) and fixed the

seatbelt prior to allowing passengers in the faulty seat, it is likely that Jasmin would have

suffered less severe injuries. Because of these reasons, we believe that Ballard should hold

partial liability for this case.

Prim Jasmin

We believe that the injured passenger, Jasmin, should be held liable for contributory

negligence because she was aware that the front passenger seatbelt of Ballard’s car was

inoperable at the time she got in the vehicle. In the case of Myers v. Peel County Board of

Education (1981), the injured student was found negligent because he tried a difficult gymnastics

maneuver when he knew he did not have a spotter; similarly, Jasmin could have reasonably
foreseen that she might be injured while wearing an improper seat belt. In addition, in Alberta,

unless they are under 16 years of age (Jasmin was 17 at the time) it is the responsibility of the

passenger, not the driver, to ensure they are wearing a proper seat belt (Government of Alberta,

2017). Furthermore, it is reasonably likely that Jasmin’s injuries could have been lessened if the

seat belt had been functional, or if she had sat in another seat.

Lindsay Waterman and the Principal

Though the teacher, Lindsay Waterman (Waterman), was not in the vehicle at the time of

the accident, her actions still place her in a position of liability. As the supervising teacher,

Waterman was held under duty of care in upholding the safety of her students. As per Hoar v.

Nanaimo School District 68, “Where students are engaged in potentially dangerous activities,

very onerous obligations exist for teachers. Instruction must be provided to ensure individual

understanding of the nature of the activity and its potential dangers (1984).” In this case,

Waterman should have foreseen the potential danger in travelling at 78 km/h on the highway and

recognized her heightened standard of care due to the nature of the activity. Furthermore,

Waterman directly ignored her duty as a teacher by failing to uphold school district policy, as,

no secondary student, irrespective of age, may drive a private vehicle transporting other

students to school-sponsored activities during school hours or as school representatives,

except to use local facilities within the town or village boundaries for activities, which

are an integral part of instruction. (University of Calgary, 2017, p.1)

Though students are allowed to drive to school events with passengers within town limits,

Waterman should have been aware that the Countryside Resort Golf Course was outside of

Okotoks. Though we cannot expect the principal to be monitoring the entire trip due to their

other duties at the school, the trip was approved with Waterman believing that the golf course
was within town limits; this error allowed the transportation plan to be approved against board

policy (University of Calgary, 2017). Thus, during this school sponsored event, Waterman and

the principal did not demonstrate due diligence in preventing Jasmin from riding in Ballard’s

vehicle, and as such should be held vicariously responsible for the damages to Jasmin because

she went against the District’s Transportation Guidelines (University of Calgary, 2017).

Okotoks School District

The Okotoks School District would share responsibility for Jasmin’s injury as it occurred

during school hours under the supervision of the teacher, Lindsay Waterman. As a representative

of the school district Waterman is expected to act in accordance with school district policy by not

allowing Ballard to drive to and from the event. The school district was uninformed of this

situation and existing policy regarding students driving with passengers outside of town limits

gave the district justifiable reason to expect that Jasmin should not have been in the vehicle at the

time of the accident, and thus, should not have been injured.

Although not directly responsible for Jasmine’s injuries, the case of MacCabe v. Westlock

Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 110 (1998) sets a precedent that makes the

Okotoks School District vicariously liable in this case, as Waterman and the school are

representatives of the Okotoks School District. Waterman’s failure to meet the required standard

of care is causally connected to the Jasmin's injuries, and there was no voluntary assumption of

risk by Jasmin since the field trip was a school event under teacher supervision. As such, the

Okotoks School District should be held vicariously responsible for the injuries to Jasmin.

Conclusion

Although we do not believe that Ballard was solely responsible for the injuries sustained by

Jasmin, we feel that Ballard’s reckless driving was the most proximate cause for the accident. But for

Ballard’s reckless driving, the negligence of the other members (i.e. Jasmin, Waterman, Okotoks School
District) would not have culminated in the injury to Jasmin, and therefore, Ballard should be held 20%

liable. In this case, we believe that Jasmin should be held 10% negligent for her part in her own injury

due to her knowledge of the faulty seat belt and the fact that the injury would likely have been curtailed

by her sitting in a different seat.

In addition, Waterman should be held 30% responsible because Jasmin should not have been

allowed to drive back to the school in Ballard’s vehicle outside of town limits; even if Ballard had been in

an accident, Jasmin would not have been injured if she had not been in the car. In this case, the principal

should also be held 20% responsible, as they had approved the trip with Waterman believing that the golf

course was within town limits, though we cannot expect the principal to have been at the golf course to

stop Jasmin from entering Ballard’s vehicle, which is the reason for the reduced responsibility. Finally,

the Okotoks School District would be responsible for the remaining 20% of the liability since there was

no voluntary assumption of risk by the injured party while at the school event.

References

Government of Alberta. (2017). Alberta Occupant Restraint Program. Retrieved from:

http://albertaseatbelts.ca/law.php

Hoar v. Nanaimo School District 68. 1984 CarswellBC 756. (1984). Retrieved from:

https://d2l.ucalgary.ca/d2l/le/content/193826/viewContent/2638117/View?ou=193826

MacCabe v. Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 110 (1998). Retrieved from:

http://canlii.ca/t/2bqqg
Myers v. Peel County Board of Education, [1981] 2 S.C.R. 21. (1981). Retrieved from:

https://d2l.ucalgary.ca/d2l/le/content/193826/viewContent/2638126/View

University of Calgary. (2017). Assignment #1 option #1: Student drivers. Retrieved from

https://d2l.ucalgary.ca/d2l/le/content/193826/viewContent/2672089/View