Road Traffic Accident In Canada

16 people, including Britons, are in hospital in Canada after a collision between a coach and a lorry.

The bus was carrying UK scouts and leaders, part of a group of 102 scouts and leaders from Lancashire, who were touring Canada.

The incident happened near Lindsay, Ontario. Reports say none of the injuries are said to be life-threatening. 

Simon Carter of the UK Scout Association said there were "cases of broken bones and shock".

Mark Boileau, from Ontario Provincial Police confirmed that none of the injuries sustained were life-threatening and added that police were considering the possible reasons for the crash.

Clive Garner, Head of Travel Law at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors said: “In our experience the majority of coach crashes involving tourists abroad are caused by driver error, often where drivers are driving too fast for the road conditions. We await the results of the investigation into the circumstances of this collision, which the local Police have already started, in order to find out what went wrong and whether one or both of the drivers of the vehicles involved were at fault.

"From the reports we are getting it is a miracle that there were not more passengers who suffered serious injuries, however even those passengers lucky enough to escape physical injury may well suffer psychologically from such a terrifying and potentially life threatening incident such as this. 

“Whilst we await a full report of what caused this crash, we continue to call on Governments around the world to implement stricter safety measures for coach travel with improved safety checks and more rigorous measures put in place to minimise the number of serious injuries and fatalities.

“These measures include stricter licensing and monitoring of coach drivers and operators, and more rigorous maintenance and coach construction standards and the avoidance of dangerous routes by operators particularly in adverse weather conditions.”

If you or a loved one has suffered an accident or illness abroad as the result of a road traffic accident while on holiday, we could help you to claim the compensation you deserve. See our Road Traffic Accident Abroad Claims page for more information.