The B.C. Court of Appeal has increased the liability a Texada Island pub bears for causing a crash that rendered a Powell River woman quadriplegic.
In a decision made public Wednesday, Justice Mary Newbury overturned a B.C. Supreme Court decision that said the Texada Island Inn should pay five per cent of the damages awarded to Lisa Hansen of Powell River, who was injured in a crash on Texada Island on Nov. 29, 2008.
Instead, Newbury and two other justices agreed that the pub’s liability should be 20 per cent. Hansen was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Danny Sulyma, who was found to be 10 per cent responsible.
The bulk of the liability — 70 per cent — was apportioned to Clifton Francis Leprieur, the intoxicated driver who slammed into the vehicle Hansen and Sulyma were in as it was parked on the roadside, out of gas.
On the night of the crash, Leprieur was at the Texada Island Inn, where he consumed 12 ounces of whiskey and no food. He declined an offer to rent a room and drove away.
Sulyma was driving Hansen’s car as the two travelled from Powell River by ferry to Texada Island to see a community play. On the way back to the ferry, the car ran out of gas.
Hansen suggested Sulyma turn on the four-way flashers but he did not.
Leprieur’s car came speeding around a corner and hit the couple’s car, pushing it along the roadway and into some trees.
The trial judge described the car as a “compressed mass of twisted metal.” Hansen’s seatbelt had been fastened but her head struck the windshield, resulting in spinal compression.
It was estimated at trial that Leprieur’s blood alcohol level was between .147 and .167 when he crashed.
Leprieur committed suicide prior to the trial.
The total amount of damages awarded was not addressed.
