The claimant was injured when she slipped and fell while trying to enter her vehicle. The insurer denied that the incident qualified as an accident. Adjudicator Mazerolle agreed with the insurer and held that the incident was not an accident. The claimant slipped and fell on ice as she walked from her trunk to the driver’s door. She did not manage to open the door before falling. The adjudicator concluded that the dominant feature of the incident was falling on ice, rather than the use and operation of a vehicle. The vehicle was simply ancillary to the events. Adjudicator Mazerolle did not accept the claimant’s argument that the reason for her being near her car and on the ice – namely, in order to get into her car – was necessarily the direct cause of the incident.
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