Lawsuit for crash into chasm

Photo: RDOS

The passenger in a vehicle that plunged into a chasm caused by a washout on the Princeton-Summerland Road last year is suing Argo Road Maintenance, the provincial government and driver of the vehicle.

On April 16, 2018, a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu containing two young women crashed into a large washout on the Princeton-Summerland Road. The gravel roadway was impacted by one of several landslides and washouts across the Okanagan due to heavy rain that day. The washout saw the road closed for two days.

In a lawsuit filed last month in Penticton, the passenger of the vehicle claims she suffered a concussion, brain injury, fractured sinus, injuries to her face, teeth, shoulder, spine, hips, a fractured ankle and more.

The civil claim alleges Argo Road Maintenance failed to properly maintain the roadway and warn motorists about the conditions of the road.

The lawsuit also claims the Ministry of Transportation was negligent for “failing to respond adequately or at all to complaints made to both Argo and the ministry about water buildup on one side of the roadway which eventually resulted in a washout.”

The claim continues the road was negligently designed and “led to the development of the chasm.”

The driver of the vehicle, a woman in her early 20s, is also named in the lawsuit for failing to see the chasm and allegedly driving in an unsafe manner.

The lawsuit seeks damages for pain and suffering, loss of income, past and future costs of care and legal costs.

None of the parties named in the lawsuit have filed a response in court.