B.C. ministries reviewing court decision on designated-driver insurance

VICTORIA – B.C.’s transportation minister says he’s concerned about a judge’s ruling that left a designated driver unable to collect on third-party liability insurance after her drunk passenger caused a serious accident.

Todd Stone says he and Attorney General Suzanne Anton will be reviewing the decision in the coming days to discuss how they’ll proceed, which may or may not include legislative changes.

The case follows a crash on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Vancouver on July 8, 2006, when a passenger named Kevin Hearne grabbed the steering wheel of a car driven by his girlfriend, Marnetta Felix.

Hearne died and Felix was hospitalized, and she successfully sued Hearne’s estate for $863,242, which she sought to collect from the Insurance Corp. of B.C.

But a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled ICBC is under no obligation to compensate Hearne’s estate, because of how provincial regulations set third-party laibility for passengers.

Regardless of the ruling, Stone says all British Columbians have an obligation to ensure friends, loved ones and colleagues don’t drive impaired.