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Sami Aibout, seen on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, successfully sued the City of Montreal after his car got a flat tire while he was driving home from work. Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nAlmost two years after a tire blew on his car during an early-morning Montreal commute, Sami Aibout will get a cheque to cover the damage, having convinced a judge the city was at fault.<\/p>\n
Getting the money was an uphill battle. To win the case, Aibout, who represented himself in court, had to overcome a Quebec law designed to prevent drivers from claiming reimbursement for vehicle damage on city roads.<\/p>\n
In December 2024, Aibout was returning to his home in Repentigny from his night shift in Montreal\u2019s Anjou borough when he drove through a large hole workers had dug in the middle of des Sciences Blvd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt a boom, boom,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was really a big shock because the hole was very large and deep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dashcam footage from that morning confirms his account, showing two big bumps as Aibout\u2019s car drove through the hole. It flattened a tire and broke a mud flap, requiring more than $750 in repairs.<\/p>\n
Sami Aibout, seen on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, successfully sued the City of Montreal after his car got a flat tire while he was driving home from work. Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
When he took his case to small claims court, Aibout learned of a measure in Quebec\u2019s Cities and Towns Act that exempts municipalities from liability for damage to tires and suspension systems as a result of a road\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n
The City of Montreal raised the exemption in court, but Judge Louis Riverin ruled on Oct. 8 that the city\u2019s negligence meant the rule didn\u2019t apply, ordering the city to pay the damages.<\/p>\n
A snowplow had knocked away a metal plate covering the hole before Aibout drove over the spot. The snowplow driver had stopped nearby, the dashcam footage shows, but failed to warn Aibout of the hazard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was concentrated on the (snowplow) driver to see if he would make a sign \u2026 he didn\u2019t do anything,\u201d Aibout said, adding he hadn\u2019t seen the hole before driving through it.<\/p>\n
The road was empty, he said. The driver \u201ccould have easily signalled to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge agreed. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe snowplow driver knew very well \u2026 that the hole was a danger, even a trap, for any driver,\u201d Riverin wrote, saying the operator, who worked for the city, had a responsibility to prevent the incident.<\/p>\n
It was The Gazette that informed Aibout he had won his case.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that it was (the city\u2019s) fault,\u201d he said, happy with the outcome. \u201cI wasn\u2019t there for the $750. I was there for the principle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other drivers have also convinced courts to hold cities responsible for road damage, despite the exemption in the Cities and Towns Act, said Aur\u00e9lie Gagnon, a lawyer at \u00c9ducaloi, an organization tasked with explaining Quebec\u2019s legal system to the public.<\/p>\n
But overcoming the exemption requires drivers to prove gross negligence on the part of a municipality, she said, on top of the requirement to prove costs stemming from the damage.<\/p>\n
The exemption \u201capplies to all situations on a road maintained by a municipality,\u201d she said, \u201cbut, according to the courts, if someone is able to prove negligence \u2026 (the exemption) becomes unenforceable.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, for example, a judge found the City of Montreal liable for $1,000 in damages after a man drove through a major pothole. In that case, too, the municipality brought up the exemption under the Cities and Towns Act, but the judge ruled the city had been negligent in failing to properly signal the danger.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s really a possibility (to overcome the exemption) if it\u2019s well documented, if it\u2019s well argued,\u201d Gagnon said.<\/p>\n
She suggested drivers in similar situations take photos of the scene and gather evidence, such as 311 calls, that might prove a municipality didn\u2019t do enough to respond to road damage.<\/p>\n
The Cities and Towns Act exemption only applies to tire and suspension systems, Gagnon added, meaning drivers face a lower bar in court when another part of their vehicle is damaged.<\/p>\n
The rule was criticized in 2019, when former Ensemble Montr\u00e9al leader Lionel Perez tabled a motion in city council<\/a> asking the province to take the exemption off the books. The measure is \u201cprofoundly unjust,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n Ensemble Montr\u00e9al under Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada now runs city council. Asked if the party still opposes the measure, a spokesperson for Martinez Ferrada said \u201cthe subject is not being studied.\u201d<\/p>\n