How have courts considered a plaintiff’s claim for whiplash injuries?

The plaintiff in Chaudhry v. Johnson, [1995] B.C.J. No. 2879 (S.C.), online: QL (BCJ) claimed to have suffered whiplash injuries in a motor vehicle accident. The defendant argued that no compensable injuries had been sustained. The defendant also raised a number of credibility issues, pointing to family and school stresses on the plaintiff at the time of the accident that she did not disclose to her physician. Clancy J. concluded that he was equally able to take those stresses into account in considering the claim. He also held that the other conflicts raised by the defendant dealing with the lack of reliability of the plaintiff’s evidence and her overreaction to injury were matters that the court could consider. In allowing the application for a summary trial, he noted that there was no direct conflict between the experts or medical practitioners.