Woman who spills hot coffee on herself at McDonalds drive-through entitled to accident benefits

On July 24, 2017, Ontario’s Court of Appeal decided the case of Dittman v. Aviva.  The issue was whether a woman who was burned while buying hot coffee from a drive-through at McDonald’s, was entitled to accident benefits.  The question was whether her injury was as a result of the use or operation of her vehicle.  The link to the decision is here: http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2017/2017ONCA0617.htm

The Court of Appeal determined that she was entitled to accident benefits and reasoned as follows:

I come to this conclusion because but for her use of the vehicle she would not have been in the drive-through lane, would not have received the coffee cup while in the seated position, would not have been transferring the coffee cup to the cup holder across her body, and would not have had the coffee spill on her lap. In addition, but for her being seated and restrained by a lap and shoulder harness she may have been able to take evasive action to avoid or lessen the amount of coffee that was spilled on her.