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Last week a person called and told me about their car accident. It was pretty serious accident which took place at high speeds. The photos of the damage to the vehicles were frightening. Air bags deployed, cracked windshields, crushed bumpers, crumpled hoods and side panels. You couldn’t recognize the makes or models of the vehicles involved in the crash. It was like a scene out of a demolition derby, only it wasn’t an organized event for sporting entertainment. . It was real life. Everyone involved in the crash were luck to be alive.

The people involved in the car accident were rushed by ambulance to hospital. The x-rays and other digital imaging didn’t show any objective injuries. So, the doctors discharged the accident victims telling them to take some Tylenol or Advil, go see their family doctor, and to look in to getting physiotherapy. This might seem strange for some people who aren’t familiar with how car accident cases work, or with how Ontario hospitals work. But as a personal injury lawyer, I see this discharge routine all too frequently. If there isn’t anything broken, or which shows up on any scan or test, people are discharged from hospital fairly quickly in order to make room for the next patient to arrive. The responsibility is then on the client to see his/her family doctor, and arrange for physiotherapy.

But how do you go about arranging for physiotherapy, and who will pay for it?

These are great questions! It sounds easy enough to get physiotherapy, but it isn’t as easy as you would think.

The easiest way to get treatment after a car accident is to find a clinic near your home. Going to a clinic that’s hard to get to isn’t convenient for regular attendance at physiotherapy which is generally what’s required to see results. Once you’ve found a clinic nearby, the easiest way of getting treatment is paying for it out of pocket right there on site.

But that’s not fair considering that you weren’t at fault for the car accident; and considering that you have car insurance which is supposed to pay for this sort of treatment. Paying out of pocket also isn’t always an option due to financial constraints and because paying for regular treatment over the course of time gets very expensive.

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The penalties for driving without car insurance need to be more harsh. When you factor in that the cost of car insurance can range from $3,000-$5,500/year depending on the make of your vehicle and driving record; compared to the $5,000 first time penalty for driving without car insurance, the risk/reward scenario for deliberate offenders who are without any tangible assets is borderline tempting…Especially for those who are struggling financially.

But we aren’t advocating that anyone drive without car insurance.

Section 2(1) of the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act states:

Compulsory automobile insurance

2 (1) Subject to the regulations, no owner or lessee of a motor vehicle shall,

(a) operate the motor vehicle; or

(b) cause or permit the motor vehicle to be operated,

on a highway unless the motor vehicle is insured under a contract of automobile insurance.

What this means is that you need car insurance in order to operate a motor vehicle. What is the penalty if you are caught driving without proper car insurance? Let’s take a look at what the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act says:

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One of the super powers I wish that I have as a personal injury lawyer is the power to compel the defendant insurance company to settle any case on demand, for exactly what my clients want out of their case. Regardless of the merits of the case when it comes to liability, causation, or damages Wouldn’t that be wonderful! The terms of the settlement are exactly what my client has demanded; and the settlement happens at the exact time when my client expects the settlement to take place.

This would be a remarkable super power, because this is not how personal injury litigation works.

It’s very rare that a case gets resolved exactly when, and on the exact terms which any party (regardless of whether it’s a Plaintiff or Defendant) is asking for.

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I’ve been a Toronto Raptors fan since Day #1.

2019 was a magical championship season. But outside of the 2019 season, the Toronto Raptors have been a hot mess.

Did you know that the Toronto Raptors have competed in  23 playoff rounds in their 30 year history. In those 23 playoff rounds, they have lost Game #1 an astounding 18 times!?!?!?  They have lost 72% of their Game #1 playoff games in the course of their history! They’ve only been up 1-0 in the playoffs just 5 times in franchise history! 2 of those 5 Game #1 wins came during their 2019 Championship Season! They’ve had roster turnovers, coaching turnovers, staff turnovers. It doesn’t matter. The just lose 72% of their Game #1 playoff matchups which is insane to grasp. Even in 2019, that Championship Season, they lost Game #1 of the playoffs to the Magic; they lost Game #1 Eastern Conference Finals to the Bucks. Is this a Game #1 Playoff Curse, or is it a sign of a franchise which is either ill equipped, under prepared, or just isn’t serious about winning. Different iterations of the team, yet the same results ensue.

Despite their 2019 title, the Raptors hold a cumulative woeful playoff record of 57–67 (.460). They have been eliminated in the first round in 7 of their 14 total playoff appearances! That number of first round playoff exists might go up yet again in a few days.

The Toronto Raptors have historically struggled to maintain a winning standard, as evidenced by an all-time regular season winning percentage of .474 (1,172–1,302) as of the 2025–26 season. Their playoff winning percentage is just .456, which marks them as a loser. This record places them in the bottom third of the league historically, ranking 21st out of 30 teams in all-time win-loss percentage. Ouch.

If you’ve watched the Raptors through their history, you’ve seen them lose more than they win. If they’ve made the playoffs, chances are that they lose Game #1, and then lose in the opening round of the playoffs (this has happened 50% of the time).

Compare that to the Miami Heat which has an all time winning percentage of .525 and a .545 winning percentage in the playoffs. The Boston Celtics have an all time playoff winning percentage of .574. The San Antonio Spurs have an all time playoff winning percentage of .552. All of these franchises post marks which completely put to shame the Toronto Raptors.

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It’s quite difficult for a Plaintiff in a personal injury case to properly articulate the pain and suffering which they are going through.

How do you express those feelings of daily pain, suffering, depression, anxiety and trauma. Words often don’t do justice.

Sometimes, on the stand at trial, or perhaps under oath at an Examination for Discovery, it’s not the words which are  impactful. It’s the tears. It’s the weeps, the sobs, the grasping for words and conveying a sense of complete breakdown with no words at all. Sometimes, it’s even a Plaintiff fainting, or having a panic attack such that they need to be wheeled out on a stretch by paramedics and put in the back of an ambulance.

All of this is to suggest that it’s very hard for a Judge, Jury and Insurer to understand the depths of pain and trauma which a Plaintiff feels after a serious accident with words and words alone.

But, this is how our legal system works. A Plaintiff is required at some point in the process of their litigation, to articulate their injuries and the impact which those injuries have had on their lives, under oath. This isn’t easy under any sort of circumstance. When you factor in that it’s likely the Plaintiff’s first time involved in litigation; and knowing that this is their one shot at getting things right along with the pressure and stress that brings, it’s a lot to handle.

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I love it when I can combine by two favourite topics: the Toronto Raptors and Personal Injury Law into the same blog entry. I’ve been a lifelong Toronto Raptors Fan. I’ve been there since Game #1. I’ve been a fan of the NBA even before the Toronto Raptors came to town.

This year has been really difficult, particularly in the 2nd half of the season, to watch the Toronto Raptors play basketball. They are poorly managed, poorly coached, with pieces which are overpaid which and which don’t fit properly on a basketball court. The product is not entertaining, and the future of the team isn’t looking very bright when you consider the long term investments they’ve made into certain key players.

Running an insurance company, or a personal injury law firm requires someone at the top to make shrewd business and management decisions. The same can be said for running the Toronto Raptors.

The performance of the employees at an insurance company, or at a personal injury law firm is largely outside of management’s hands. Either those employees perform to a high standard which has been set by management, or they don’t. Management will set up targets, procedures, protocols and quality control inspections; but it’s not their job to do the work which the employees are being paid to do. Good management will put their employees in positions to succeed, with the tools they need to succeed. Bad management will do the opposite.

The same can be said of management of the Toronto Raptors. It’s not Bobby Webster’s job (current general manager of the Toronto Raptors) to make jump shots or play defence. Rather, it’s his job to build a roster, coaching staff, and operations team; and then for targets, goals and standards to be set which are either met/followed; or not.

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Some people are very unlucky. The act of getting into an accident is very lucky in and of itself.

The person is simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time; and as a result, they’ve been involved in a serious accident and sustained very serious injuries.

Sometimes these people are the in the wrong place, at the wrong time, but on multiple occasions. So, instead of being involved in one accident, they are involved in two, or three accidents.

It doesn’t just have to a car, bike or motorcycle accident. It could be a lot of things. One car accident; one bike accident; one slip and fall accident; one dog bite. It doesn’t matter because the impact to the Plaintiff is all the same. It just adds to their damages, injuries, pain, suffering and their ability to carry out a normal life. Just when you thought you were on your way back to making a recovery, or returning to work, the second, or third, or even fourth accident completely derails all of the hard work you’ve put in to your rehabilitation. This experience can be incredibly frustrating and depressing.

Things don’t get better when insurance lawyers look at the situation. In fact, many insurance lawyers like to hear that there are multiple accidents.

Why is that? Are they actively rooting for the person to get into an accident because they find enjoyment in the pain and suffering for another human being? Absolutely not.

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My son has been playing competitive soccer in Ontario since he was 5 years old.

The competitive soccer landscape has changed a lot since the days of when I played.

When I played, there were scores and standings. There were stakes such that the games meant something. There were winners, and there were losers. And sometimes, because it’s soccer, there were even ties! There were championships to be won and lost. There was the thrill of victory, along with the agony of defeat.

From a soccer perspective, children were able to learn the right way to win. The good coaches taught the children to win with grace and dignity, and respect for their opponents. They were taught not to be a poor sport winner, or cocky, or gloating when winning.

On the flip side, children learned not only to loose, but how to loose without being a sore loser. Losing is part of sport and is a hard thing to learn, and a hard feeling to have to deal with. But, if you weren’t able to cope with losing, or to bounce back after a loss, then you wouldn’t be able to play. Even the greatest athletes of all time have lost.

Children learned how to play the game with a lead. And also learned how to play from behind to secure a dramatic comeback win.  These environments built character which is difficult to teach. It was learned in an environment almost impossible to replicate, through a shared experience with teammates and coaches who were going through the same thing.

Soccer however, at least in the sanctioned world of Ontario Soccer, has changed. Before the age of 13, there are no standings. There are no scores. There are no winners. There are no losers. You can say that every game, regardless of the performance of the teams, or the individual players, ends up in a tie because scores are not even recorded. No games have meaning. There are no stakes. And, because there are no stakes, that means that there is no pressure to win, or consequence of losing. This is much too egalitarian and there are repercussions to such a system.

What happens when scores and standings are introduced? What happens when the children encounter an environment where there are objective winners and losers? How will the children handle this given that they have been raised in a system where there are no stakes when they play their games? Children won’t build character. They won’t build resilience, or toughness, or grit. They don’t learn the right way to win, or how to loose. The just play the game, without any sort of emotional growth because all of the touchstones have been rubbed out because they’ve been deemed as too sharp for children to deal with.

Winning has become demonized in this system. Declaring a “winner” or a “champion” is viewed upon as an evil term because by being declared the winner, it means that you or someone had to defeat a set of opponents. This is seen as a giant wrong for soccer playing children in Ontario under the age of 13 years old.

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People are born inherently good. They want to do good unto others. Perhaps I’m naive, but I firmly believe in this.

But, things can get tricky when there are other motivations at stake.

Insurance companies are just that. They are companies. They aren’t people who are set out to do good in the world. Quite the contrary. While “doing good” or “acting kindly” might be part of their corporate literature, or the public face which they put out to the world; their staring goal and ending goal is always to make money. These are large, multi national and publicly traded corporations.  They exist to turn a profit. The aren’t registered charities.

Insurers turn to people to run their day to day operations. Your claim will be assigned to a real life human in the form an an insurance adjuster. And, this person will reach out to you over the phone to make initial contact about your case in an attempt to put a human touch to your case. The phone call(s) which you have with the adjuster will likely be recorded for what they call “customer service” or “training purposes“. And these calls are often very polite, cheery and cordial because people want to connect on a human level.

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As a personal injury lawyer, I see a lot of police reports. The majority of the police reports which my law firm sees deal with car accident cases. And as you know, car accidents happen for a lot of reasons. Some are honest mistake driving errors. People were simply not paying proper attention to the road, or made a mistake while driving.

Some car accidents happen for more serious reasons like driving while distracted on a cell phone, or drunk driving.

Regardless of how the car accident happened, the police are responsible for investigating these car accidents, reporting them accurately, and charging the at fault driver when it’s appropriate to do so.

In recent years, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers has seen the trend of police officers asking drivers who have been involved in car accidents to “self report” the accidents to a self reporting collision centre.

We saw this sort of thing years ago when the damage to the vehicles was minimal, and there were no personal injuries to report. This made sense in the vein of no harm, no foul.

But, nowadays we are seeing a more disturbing trend. More serious accidents; ie; accidents where there is serious property damage along with personal injuries are also being self reported because the police aren’t taking the time to report these accidents themselves.

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