A disabled person is allowed to obtain a driver’s license, as long as his/her disability does not prevent a safe handling of the insured vehicle. Still, some of the drivers with a disability must obey certain restrictions on their driving privilege.
How does the law define “disabled”?
With respect to licenses, a disabled person is one that needs special accommodations, in order to operate a motored vehicle. A disabled person with restrictions must obey a designated limitation when exercising his or her driving privileges.
—Sometimes that restriction limits the course of the day when the restricted driver can be on the road.
—Sometimes that restriction mandates the driver’s utilization of a specific type of equipment.
—In the past, there were times when that restriction mandated the extent to which the disabled driver had to undergo some type of physical exam.
When a disabled driver has become involved in an accident, identification of the person at-fault calls for determining which of the drivers had acted in a less reasonable fashion.
A driver’s failure to act in a reasonable manner has been categorized as negligence. Personal injury lawyer in Calgary knows that the adjuster at an insurance company might suggest that a disabled driver should have been using a special device, one that could have limited the extent of the same driver’s injuries.
Adjusters know that the opposing party would not be able to fight such a suggestion, unless it had sought the help of a medical expert.
How could an expert’s opinion help those the have chosen to question the adjuster’s suggestion?
A medical expert would know whether or not such a device existed. He or she would know whether or not it had been mentioned in a medical journal, or had been highlighted in an advertisement.
A driver should not be considered negligent, if he or she has failed to use an item that is not on the market. That seems reasonable, but adjusters try to convince the opposing party that such an item does, if fact, exist.
Because there are so many medical advances, it is easy for an adjuster to insist on the existence of an item that has not appeared on any store’s shelves, and has not been pictured on any website.
What message should the above facts send to a disabled driver?
Any drivers that have been injured in an accident should seek a lawyer that has ready access to medical experts. If an adjuster were to realize that such an expert stood ready to comment on the adjuster’s suggestion, then he or she might feel reluctant to come forward with a statement of questionable veracity.
Some adjusters like to take advantage of the fact that there is no easy way to define “reasonable.”