The governments of Canada and the Yukon are on the hook for more than $600,000 worth of damages in a civil suit, a Yukon judge decided this week.

The case was launched by Christopher Fuller, an Atlin, B.C. man who, while driving to Whitehorse from his home, was hit head-on by another vehicle on the Alaska Highway near Marsh Lake on the morning of Feb. 1, 2005.

At about 8:30 a.m., Fuller had been following a snowplow for some time, keeping a safe distance and waiting for an opportunity to pass. It was snowing and the plow was kicking up a blinding cloud of snow in its wake, meaning the plow driver - Harold Fraser - couldn't see Fuller's truck behind him.

The two were travelling at the same speed - about 70 kilometres per hour - as they came up to a blind corner, one both drivers had taken many times before; Fuller as a commuter and Fraser as a plow driver.

Daniel Schaff, a serviceman with the United States Air Force, was approaching from the other direction. He was on his way to Montana, having just completed a posting near Fairbanks.

He had been driving since the day before, stopping for a couple of short naps and eating while he drove.

Fraser had started his plow route at 6:30 a.m., around the same time Fuller and his son had started their Atlin-to-Whitehorse trip.

At 8:34 a.m., at the curve of the blind corner, all three vehicles met in a perfect storm.

Fraser did not slow down as he rounded the corner, according to a silent witness device installed in his vehicle. Schaff told the court he tapped lightly on his brake as he approached from the other direction, unaware of the plow and truck around the corner.

He was cautious with the brakes, he said, because he worried about sliding out or losing control of the travel trailer he was towing.

What he wasn't prepared for was losing visibility, but that's exactly what happened.

Schaff felt his car swerve, pushed by the air pressure caused by the passing plow, then was suddenly blinded by Fraser's snow cloud.

Instead of braking, Schaff said he tried to keep with the curve of the road - that is, until he saw Fuller's headlights cut through the snow. He slammed on his brakes but it was too late. The two trucks collided head-on, sending the Fuller vehicle into the ditch.

Fuller spent 3 1/2 hours trapped in his truck before emergency responders could remove him using the jaws of life. Both of his feet were crushed - the bones in his heels and ankles severely fractured - and the foot pedal of the emergency brake had embedded itself into his left thigh.

After spending 15 days in the hospital, Fuller was allowed to go home in a wheelchair, where he remained for another few months.

He has had surgery several times, goes to physiotherapy, acupuncture, and massage therapy, but will never again be able to walk or work the way he once did. He told the court it takes him an hour every morning to massage his feet into working order, he cannot climb hills because his ankles do not bend and he is in constant, low-level pain.

Justice Leigh Gower of the Supreme Court of Yukon found both Schaff and Fraser were negligent, and therefore responsible for the crash.

Schaff, he decided, bears the bulk of the blame (80 per cent) because he failed to slow down significantly, and instead of moving to the outside of his lane to give oncoming traffic more room, he swerved to the inside; the action which eventually took him over the centre line and into the other truck.

Fraser takes the remaining 20 per cent of responsibility because he was going faster than the 50 km/h recommended by the Department of Highways and Public Works when plowing through a curve in fluffy snow condition.

Thanks to the Visiting Forces Act, the Canadian government will foot the bill for Schaff's portion of the $604, 206 awarded to Fuller.

The Yukon government will likely pay Fraser's portion, as he was working for Highways and Public Works at the time of the collision.