My mother was recently involved in an accident. She had just purchased a brand new scooter (a Yamaha BWs 49cc) and relevant insurance (or so she thought). The very day she bought it, on the way back home, she lost control of the scooter and careened off the road into a lake. She received quite a bit of physical damage (a fractured knee, concussion, possibly a broken wrist) in the process. Now, when she made some phone calls to figure out how her insurance would work for her scooter (thank goodness for free Canadian health care so we didn't have to worry about that as well), my mother was informed that she wasn't insured for that type of accident.
If this was the only issue, I wouldn't bring it up. After all, she 'signed the dotted line' for her insurance, even if she did misunderstand the terms. But here's where I'm getting upset: Prior to heading home, she noticed a problem with the scooter - every time she turned, the wheels made an odd squeaking noise and, from what she tells me, she could feel the issue in her handling when it happened. Upon taking the scooter back to the dealer that sold it to her, she was told it was fine and it just needed to be 'broken in'. Then she headed home and the accident occurred. From what my mother remembers and from a witness that was behind her on the road, upon rounding a corner her bike started wobbling uncontrollably and she was forced to drive off the road into the lake (it was either that or into the oncoming traffic). We're both at least relatively sure that this wasn't 'pilot error'.
If there was a problem with the scooter, shouldn't we receive at least some sort of compensation? I mean, at this point ICBC isn't giving us anything and we can't prove there was anything wrong prior to the crash from the scooter itself. It's pretty banged up now so one would just assume any problems it has now just came from the crash.
We're pretty tight on cash here, and the several-thousand dollar scooter was meant to save on money for gas, not waste it. Can anything be done at all? I mean, without spending money we don't have on a bunch of lawyers and investigators. We aren't the type of people to sue, and even if we were, we simply could not afford it.
...Is there no justice?
Touche, WRG.
I don't think that this was an issue with the scooter's design so much as it might have just been a problem with that particular scooter. I mean, I haven't heard of any other similar incidents with that type of scooter, but I suppose I haven't been searching for them.
I mean, it could have been a pilot's error, but she'd been driving it around town for hours without any problems (other than the aforementioned 'squeaking wheels and handling discomfort' when turning) prior to the accident.
Pardon me if I'm reaching or being illogical or something - I'm just rather perturbed that my mom had to pay upwards of $ 2,600 dollars for the 'privilege' of being unable to walk currently without someone to aid her.
Also, to clarify, I'm not looking for compensation for my mom's condition (as Canada has pretty much free health care and she is quite forgiving when it comes to personal harm), but rather, something to at least help to either replace or repair the totaled scooter.
I'd also like to mention, if only just to vent, that the police never showed up at the place of the accident, and the aforementioned 'witness' only ever talked to one of the paramedics on the scene (of which my dad is one, I might make mention, though he wasn't working that day), so I don't think we could track him down as I do not believe he ever gave his name or number or anything. Real shame, too, since apparently he jumped into the lake and helped to pull my mom out, probably saving her from drowning in the process, so we can't even thank him.
Answer by gomanyes
If you have solid evidence that there was a problem with the scooter, you should be able to file a claim with Yamaha and they will pay it. However, from what you have said, it doesn't sound like anything was wrong with it. I don't know what the problem was, but I don't see any evidence of manufacturing defects.
In any case, if there was a defect, then other people will most likely have the same experience and some lawyer will notice a pattern and file a class action lawsuit.
Answer by GotaGoodFeelin
all i know is that even if a brand new car brakes the second after they sell you the car or if its even broken before you buy it but dont notice then the dealer will NOT trade it in for a new one...all they can do is try to fix it. so they could of known its not supposed to be like that but didnt do anything
Answer by WRG
I've never heard of vehicle insurance that covers the person that is the insured. Had she had a passenger on board that passenger would have been covered under the liability portion of the coverage. Just like it pays for damages of any property of others she destroyed.
If she had comprehensive coverage on the scooter the insurance would pay damages to the scooter.
Now if there was a problem with the scooters design or manufacture she might have a claim against the company that made or sold the scooter.
Nobody every said justice was free.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Orignal From: Canadian insurance system screws us over - can anything be done?
Post a Comment