OHTA.ca

Hello all,

I'm not sure if you will be able to help me or not, but I figured this would be the best place to ask as all of my research has turned up with nothing.

I am in post secondary education for a health care position that involves problem based learning and in a scenario that was presented to my group, the subject of the scenario has a cast on her right foot which will be removed in a few days. She will have another cast on her left foot at a later point in time.

Question:

What are the legal implications of driving with a cast? Are there any?

I looked throughout the MTO and the Ontario highway traffic act and could not find anything.

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out and point me in the right direction. Thank you in advance!

Andrew

I do not know of any law that prevents someone from driving with a cast.

This would be up to a doctor to decide. Doctors have the ability to send MTO documentation that a driver is unable to drive due to a condition of some sort. Then the MTO would suspend the drivers licence until reinstated by the doctor.

Think more legal issue would be if there was a collision and more so if injury was involved. Was the cast a factor? Might be some civil liability on the driver's part, doctors part. Then you have the insurance companies to deal with in determining the blame, is there a clause in the contract (fine print) about driving while ability was impaired (being a cast that impaired the foot to move properly?)

Along with your possible insurance troubles, there's also this part of O. Reg 340/94. It would likely depend on the type of cast whether it qualifies as "significantly" interfering with your ability to drive. I once had a walking cast on that still allowed mobility in my ankle (ironically, it was for a fractured ankle) and probably gave more driving "feel" than my work boots do now.

14. An applicant for or a holder of a drivers licence must not,

(a) suffer from any mental, emotional, nervous or physical disability likely to significantly interfere with his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle of the applicable class safely;