Ontario government may be liable for Highway 3 crashes, says lawyer

A Windsor personal injury lawyer isconsidering legal action against the province over the government's unwillingness to widen a deadly stretch of Highway 3 in Essex County.

Eleven fatal crashes were reported alongthe two-lane section of Highway 3 between 1993 and 2015, according to the latest numbers available from the province

• One person dead in seven-vehicle crash on Highway 3

• 1 person dead in Highway 3 collision

"Certainly there would be an argument to be made that the province may hold some liability," said Jennifer Bezaire, personal injury lawyer and partner with Greg Monforton & Partners.

"If the roadway had been widened, accidents like this maybe wouldn't have been as severe or perhaps wouldn't have happened at all."

Watch asNahim Ibrahimrecountsthe life-altering collision:

Driver involved in fatal Hwy. 3 crash recalls moments leading up to the incident

7 years ago

Duration 0:59

A vehicle swerved into Nahim Ibrahim's lane on Hwy. 3, striking him head-on. Ibrahim had to be pulled from his car that caught fire. A passenger in the other vehicle died.

Bezaire said her law firm receives a "disproportionate" number of calls involving crashes on Highway 3specifically involving the stretch of road that has not yet been widened.

• Possible widening of 5-km stretch of Highway 3 being reviewed

• Immediate widening of Highway 3 voted down at Queen's Park

As the provincial election campaign kicks into high gear, so do calls to expand that deadly section of Highway3 in Essex County.

Nahim Ibrahim was involved in a fatal collision in that area two years ago. He says a driver in the opposite direction lost control, swerved into the gravel shoulder then back into oncoming traffic, striking his vehicle head-on.

"It's something I don't even care to think about," he said. "Every time I think about it, it brings me back to the point of impact where I blacked out and it's just horrifying."

A passenger in the other vehicle died following the crash. Ibrahim said he still carries guilt from the collision even though there wasn't enough time for him to react.

• Colorado woman killed in Kingsville crash, police say

Crash victim calls for road widening

Ibrahim is just one of the many voices calling on the province to widen the highway. Had there been more room, he said "things would have probably come out totally different."

• Expert says plenty of factors to consider when widening highways

"Even though it wasn't my fault, I was still there. It was my car that was involved in the impact. You still can't help but have a sense of responsibility," he said. "Had I not been there, they wouldn't have hit anyone. It's horrifying. It's absolutely horrifying."

So horrifying, Ibrahim said he's been forced to seek psychological therapy,nearly three years after the crash.

EMS call responsenumbers obtained by CBC News show 193 reports of collisions between2013 and 2017 on the single-lane stretchof road fromCounty Road8 in Essex to Highway77 in Leamington.

Ibrahim said he hasn't been able to return to work since the collision. He still walks with a limp because his heel bone was fractured in seven different places. Even with treatment and medication, Ibrahim says he's in constant agony.

Had I not been there, they wouldn't have hit anyone. It's horrifying.- NahimIbrahim, survived fatal Hwy. 3 crash

"Non-stop pain," he said. "On a scale in the evenings, 10 out of 10."

Those are just some of the reasons why he's suing the other driver and his own insurance company for some compensation.

Ont. 'most definitely' looking at future lawsuits

Bezaireis representing Ibrahim and said although his case didn't warrant taking legal action against the province, others could. Ifthehighway isn't widened soon, she predicts Ontario will "most definitely" be looped into a lawsuit.

"There's definite exposure there on the province for not doing it," said Bezaire. "There just isn't enough room for vehicles to correct themselves and accidents to be avoided in that area."

Lawyer considers legal action against Ont. for failing to widen section of highway

7 years ago

Duration 0:36

Personal injury lawyer Jennifer Bezaire says the province of Ontario may hold some liability for crashes along a two-lane section of Hwy. 3 near Windsor, Ont. that has not been widened.

The province has not yet approved funding for the Highway 3expansion from Essex to Leamington, although anenvironmental study was completed in 2006. Right now it's in queue under Ontario's Southern Highways Program forPlanning for the Future, meaning construction is outside of a five-year scope.

• Widening Highway 3 in Essex barely decreased collisions

In the meantime, design work for the Highway 3expansion is underway.

Province 'committed' to widening Hwy. 3

"Our government is committed to widening the remaining two-lane section of Highway 3 between Leamington and Windsor," Minister of Transportation Kathryn McGarry wrote in an email to CBC News.

McGarrywon't speak about the government's potential liability, according to a spokesperson who stated "the Ministry of Transportation does not comment on legal issues."

If funding is approved for the widening of Highway3, the province saidmore engineering work and property acquisition will need to happen.

Opposition questions if highway will ever be widened

Essex NDP MPP Taras Natyshaksaid he has resigned himself to the fact that this project will ever be completed under the Liberals.

• Widen Highway 3 to 4 lanes, Essex MPP Natyshak tells province

• Highway 3 exclusion 'slap in the face,' says NDP's Natyshak

"If they really wanted to do it, they would have done it six years ago, eight years ago, 20 years ago," said Natyshak. "There's no project more shovel-ready in the province of Ontario than the expansion and third phase of Highway 3."

Chris Lewis is the newly-nominated PC candidate for the riding of Essex. He's also a former volunteer firefighter from Kingsville who responded to manycrashes along the two-lane stretch of Highway 3.

Lewis said if he's elected widening the highway would be his "number one priority."

"I responded to dozens, literally dozens, of emergency calls on this road," he explained. "[It]is unnecessary that people should have to worry."

I'm asking for just a little bit more patience.- Steven DelDuca, former Minister of Transportation

In August of 2016, then-Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca toured the deadly stretch of Highway3.

Afterwards he said "I get it. I've heard it loud and clear ...I'm asking for just a little bit more patience."

Here's whatNahimwould say ifhad the chance to meet face-to-face with Ontario's current Transport Minister:

Hwy. 3 crash victim sends strong message to province

7 years ago

Duration 0:24

After being seriously injured in a Hwy. 3 crash back in 2015, Nahim Ibrahim is urging the provincial government to widen a two-lane section of the highway.