Who Can Be Blamed If A Hiker Or Camper Gets Injured In Ontario?

A person can get injured when someone becomes negligent. The negligent behavior can be committed by a second party or by the injured party, whichever was more careless and neglectful.

Every person has a duty of care towards others, as well as towards their own well-being. Hikers and campers are expected to carry-out certain responsibilities, in hopes of limiting the extent of their injuries.

Responsibilities of hikers and campers

• Check the weather report before venturing out on hike or on camping trip.
• Pack proper clothing, along with water and a sufficient amount of food. Have proper cooking equipment, if planning to prepare meals. Have fishing or hunting equipment, if planning to secure the main dish for one or more meals.
• Pack a first aid kit.
• Have a map handy; do not rely on a GPS device.
• Before departing, let someone know where your group of hikers/campers is headed. Also provide that individual with an estimated time for your group’s return.
• Do not plan to hike or camp alone.

If your group plans to travel over any piece of private property, the property owner should be contacted. Unless your group has the owner’s permission to step onto that piece of land, each of you could be labelled a trespasser. In that case, the owner could never be held liable for any injuries suffered by one of the hikers or campers.

Responsibilities of property owners

Personal Injury Lawyer in Waterloo knows that you keep all marked trails, private roads and utility rights-of-way cleared of obstructions. An owner’s failure to carry-out that responsibility represents a punishable violation, according to the Occupier’s Liability Act. Do not let anyone create a rut or other obstacle on a marked trail. Do not permit the creation of changes in a private road, unless some sign sends a warning about that change. Do not interfere with the operation of utility vehicles.

Realize that trespassers could hurt those that have permission to use your property, just as they could do harm to that same piece of land. Take the time to listen to any reports about trespassers that were spotted by someone that had asked permission to step over your property’s boundary lines.

Pay attention to the well-being of those that might be hiking or camping in a spot that meets with your approval. Take the time to help them, in the event of an emergency. Such an action could work to help you with keeping-off trespassers.

In fact, the actions of a trespasser might cause an emergency. In that case, a property owner would want to know as much as possible about the troublemaker. Any grateful hikers or campers might be able to share some facts about where the troublemaker was headed, or about the trespasser’s clothing or apparent means of transportation.