Andrew Hall: Nanaimo

Lyle Brian Hall Dept: The B.C. government is suing the City of Nanaimo to recover costs of medical care for a Nanaimo teen left in a coma after a railway-crossing crash that killed his parents. The province is using the Health Care Costs Recovery Act, a little known piece of legislation that came into effect in 2009 and has allowed it to recoup millions in healthcare costs from third parties it deems negligent. Andrew Hall, now 17, was in the back seat of his parents' car when it was struck by a train on the Dorman Road crossing on Oct. 14, 2009, killing his 44-year-old mother, Roseane Perreault, who was driving, and his 49-year-old father Lyle Brian Hall, who was in the passenger seat. A statement of claim filed June 29 by the provincial government in B.C. Supreme Court argues the city failed to install advance-warnings signs, adequate signal lights, street lights or other traffic-control devices at the crossing. "The collision and the resulting injuries suffered by Andrew Hall were caused by the negligence of the city," the province argues in its suit. Andrew was airlifted with extensive head injuries to B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver put in an induced coma. Besides a depressed skull fracture, he suffered the fracture of his cervical spine and internal injuries, the lawsuit said. A Transportation Safety Board report later found that Perreault, who was driving a Dodge Spirit, turned off the Island Highway and applied the brakes when she saw flashing lights, but stopped on the tracks. A southbound Via Rail Dayliner broadsided the car and hurled it 45 metres. The city failed to block access to Dorman Road from the highway when it ought to have known that letting traffic turn off constituted a "significant hazard," the province said. None of the allegations have been proven in court, and the city has not yet filed a statement of defence. Members of the Hall family were unavailable for comment. Since the Health Care Costs Recovery Act came into effect in April 2009, the government has recovered $12.5 million in medical expenses. Of the more than 10,000 cases launched, almost 4,700 are now closed. The Health Ministry said about 236 cases were opened each month. While individuals and businesses are often targets of the lawsuits, the government has sued municipalities in cases where it believed negligence was a factor. Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan said the city is aware of the lawsuit, but declined to comment. "Anything I say may prejudice our claim," Ruttan said. "These things are difficult. I recall the circumstances." The 2010 Transportation Safety Board report blamed the crash on what was described as a poor and outdated crossing design. The design flaws included poor positioning of signal lights and an "insufficient" 14-metre stopping distance from the highway corner to the crossing stop line. The city has spent $15,000 on new signals, but says it would be extremely difficult to improve the roadway. Andrew made a remarkable recovery after the crash. After months of rehabilitative therapy at the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children in Vancouver, he was moved to a Nanaimo care facility in 2010. kderosa@timescolonist.com div (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.