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The Dejongs’ allegations contain many similarities to the defence put forward by Western University and the University Students’ Council (USC), also named as defendants in the lawsuit, saying Christidis caused her own death because she was using her phone, wasn’t wearing her glasses and wasn’t watching for traffic.

“She moved from a position of safety to a position of danger,” the university’s statement of defence alleges. “She had the best chance to avoid the incident, but failed to do so.”

Statements of claim, and defences filed in response, are legal documents that include allegations not yet tested in court.

None of the lawyers involved in the lawsuit responded to a request for comment Tuesday, but a past president of the London chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said civil lawsuits are especially tough on the families of victims.

“It’s even more heartbreaking sometimes, because of the lengths they (defendants) will go to,” Mary Rodrigues said of allegations that surface in such cases.

Rodrigues, whose four-month-old son was killed by an impaired driver in 2008, has been involved in a civil claim of her own following her son’s death.

The cases can drag on for years and rehash horrible details from a criminal trial, she said.

Christidis, who was just one month into her studies at Western, died in the hospital two days after being struck by a vehicle while walking on campus at night. Dejong had spent the evening drinking with friends at the campus bar, The Spoke, before getting into his father’s Volkswagen Golf to drive to a friend’s place, a court heard at his trial.