The claimant was injured while walking down the driveway to get into a Lyft, which was waiting to take her to a medical appointment. She applied for accident benefits. The insurer denied the claim, stating that the incident was not an accident. Adjudicator Mather concluded that the incident was an accident under the SABS. She concluded that the purpose test was met because the use and operation of the vehicle began when the Lyft driver accepted the ride request, and included the claimant’s attempt to enter the car. Her only purpose in walking down the ice-covered driveway was to get into the car. The adjudicator also held that the ice was not an intervening act. While it was one of the direct causes of the accident, so was the use and operation of the Lyft that stopped less than halfway up the driveway. Further, it was the use or operation of the Lyft that was the dominant feature of the accident, because the slip and fall on ice was only ancillary to the fact that the Lyft driver stopped half-way up the driveway.
