ICBC found the mom 100 per cent at fault. No damages are being sought, but Kirsten wants answers

Kirsten and her mom were getting her three kids into car seats when a van next to hers backed out

A local mom never thought she would be found at fault when a van backed out and hit her car

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – When you put your child in their car seat, you need to leave the car door open to be able to do it. But it turns out you may be found at fault if another vehicle hits your door.

Kirsten Chalmers, a mother of three, was found 100 per cent at fault, after a van’s mirror hit her open door.

Kirsten and her mom were in the parking lot of the Morgan Crossing shopping centre, making sure her kids — aged 10 months, two, and five — were buckled in.

“I had already put my 10-month-old into her car seat — she’s in one of those bucket seats that you just move into the car. I was buckling in my oldest daughter on the passenger side. It was my mom who was on the driver’s side, buckling in my son.”

That’s when the van parked next to them backed out.

The van’s mirror hit her car’s open door, but she never thought she would be found at fault.

“In the Motor Vehicle Act, it states something along the lines of ‘the car door being opened for a period of time to get a passenger in and out.’ What is considered a safe period of time? Well in my opinion, whatever time it takes to properly buckle a child in.”

The other driver is not seeking damages, which means Kirsten’s premiums won’t be affected. But she still wants answers.

“I still feel like I’m deserving of some type of explanation. If you’re going to tell me that I can’t open my door to put my child in and that I’ll be found at fault for that, what if she had requested damages?”

In an emailed statement to NEWS 1130, ICBC says the door was “opened further” into the moving van, which is why Kirsten was found at fault.

According to the Motor Vehicle Act, a person must not open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so.

In this case, the vehicle door was partially open but then the door was opened further into the side of the moving vehicle. The responsibility for the impact lies with the door opener.

Kirsten claims she never stated to ICBC that her mother further opened the door. “I think I would have been more accepting of a 50-50 type thing. But to just be told ‘You’re 100 per cent at fault’… I was blown away.”

She says a manager told her it was “more of a he said, she said thing.”

“That [the other driver is] actually claiming that… my car door was not open when she started backing out and that my mom actually would have had to come between the moving vehicle and my parked vehicle and opened the door with a two-year-old in her arms while she was already in the process of backing out. I’m not sure who would ever do that, especially not with a child.”

She says it’s impossible for a parent to buckle their children without opening the door. “It’s not always a very quick procedure to get them into the car.”

What should parents do in this situation?

Kirsten wants to know what should be done to ensure this doesn’t happen to her — or another parent — again.

“Are you recommending that if I’m in the process of buckling my kids and I hear a car start that I should actually stop what I’m doing, move out of the way, close the door, and let that person back out? I would like to know what I should do in the future.”

In ICBC’s statement, the insurer says:

Parking lots are very busy places. The key tip is to be aware of the vehicles around you when parking or returning to your parked vehicle and continue to watch for other drivers as you and your passengers enter and exit the vehicle. Don’t leave doors open longer than necessary and check before opening any door further. If an incident occurs, try to find an independent witness if possible.

“This is crazy. This defies common sense,” said Kris Sims with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a longtime critic of ICBC’s monopoly on car insurance.

She thinks many cases like Kirsten’s go under the radar. While Sims admits she’s no expert on ICBC cases, she believes many come down to “he said, she said” situations.

“Unless you get witnesses. Say, there’s a collision… say it’s in an intersection or something. Then you still need to usually get witnesses for things like that.”

Sims argues if there was insurance competition, Kirsten could move to another insurer if she was unhappy with how she is treated.

“I’m going to go up the street, I’m going to go online, I’m going to shop around because as a consumer… In British Columbia, you can’t do it. The only recourse is to make an issue of it.”