TransLink ordered to pay $45K after man trips outside Port Coquitlam WCE station

TransLink has been ordered to pay a man a little over $45,000 in damages after he tripped on the lip of a concrete ramp outside of a West Coast Express station in Port Coquitlam.

A  B.C. Supreme Court decision details how Joseph Ramos fell on the low concrete ramp leading to a maintenance shed in the passenger interchange area of the transit station.

Ramos was commuting home from work on a clear and dry day. He had exited the train station and was headed for the bus interchange when he left the brick walkway and took a more direct route to the bus stop by walking over grass. That’s when the man tripped over the edge of the ramp.

“Photographs taken on the day of, or very shortly after, the incident show that the height of the grass was uneven along the edge of the ramp over which Mr. Ramos tripped,” Supreme Court Justice Bruce Elwood wrote.

“On his left as he approached the ramp, the low edge of the ramp where it met the bus loop sidewalk was obscured by the grass. On his right, the full height of the ramp where it met the shed was partially obscured by the grass. Near the middle, slightly to the right of where Mr. Ramos tripped, there was a trough worn in the grass – possibly by other passengers taking a similar route – in which the edge of the ramp is visible.”

The fall resulted in Ramos dislocating his shoulder and suffering minor injuries to his right hand, leg, and knee.

TransLink argued Ramos assumed risk of injury when he left the walkway, saying it provided safe access to the bus exchange on the brick path. But the court disagreed.

Elwood wrote TransLink “knew or ought to have known” about the tripping hazard and taken steps to mitigate it. The judge added TransLink knew the ramp was there, knew that grass abutted the concrete ramp, and that grass growth could obscure the raised edge of the ramp.

“Accordingly, it was reasonably foreseeable to TransLink that a passenger could injure themselves if the raised edge of the concrete ramp was obscured by the grass.”

The decision says TransLink had the ability to mitigate the risk by cutting the grass at a uniform height so the lip of the concrete ramp was more visible — something the transit authority did after the incident.

Ramos sought $75,000 in non-pecuniary damages for pain and suffering but was awarded $38,000. He was also awarded $5,822 for expenses like physiotherapy, massage, acupuncture, and other treatments, as well as $1,644.29 in health care costs.