In Higginson v. Kish, the Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident after striking the rear of a truck that pulled into his lane, leaving the Plaintiff no time to avoid the collision. The Plaintiff brought an ICBC claim for pain and suffering, as well as other forms of damages. At the Examination for Discovery of the Defendant, three questions that were asked by Plaintiff’s counsel were objected to by ICBC’S lawyer. Counsel for the Plaintiff brought an application to compel answers to these questions, only succeeding on one of the three questions. The Court commented that :
[5] It seems to me that while one of the questions, the first one, “Do you have any possible explanation why you wouldn’t have seen Mr. Higginson’s vehicle approaching in the left lane” may have been inelegantly phrased. What it was getting at or should have been getting at is, “Was there anything obscuring your ability to see to the rear, as Mr. Higginson approached?”
[6] That does not call upon the witness to speculate, it seems to me, if the question is properly phrased, nor does it call upon the defendant to speculate. It is relevant to the issues, that is was there anything preventing the witness from seeing to his rear. That question, together with any subsidiary questions, ought to be answered.
[7] Question 295, which was “Will you agree with me that it would have been more reasonable to have approached highway speed before changing lanes,” does not require an answer, in my view. It is not an appropriate question to ask a witness. What that really asks the witness to do is to make the judge’s decision for the judge, and that is answer questions that involve matters of law, that is whether the activities or actions of the defendant were reasonable. I will not order the witness to answer that question or anything relating to that question.
[8] Question 310: “And you were aware that prior to changing lanes, that you could expect vehicles approaching at highway speed, 80 kilometres an hour?” That expectation is a perfectly legitimate and reasonable thing to explore on examinations for discovery. The knowledge of the defendant as to the speed at which traffic was or might reasonably be expected to be travelling at the time of the accident, is permissible as a topic for exploration on discovery.