CBC reported today on a video of a "road rage" incident in North Vancouver that was posted on YouTube. Their article contained some tips on how to deal with a road rage incident and ways to avoid getting in a situation in the first place. One of those tips was to "Stay in your Vehicle." Being inside the vehicle has the obvious advantage of having the vehicle windows and structure offer you protection from assault and injury, but there are also a less obvious advantage to this from a personal injury law perspective.
First off, injuries arising from a road rage assault that occurs outside of the vehicles will likely not be covered by insurance. Where the dominant cause of an injury to a person is the use of any weapon or object, other than a vehicle used as a weapon, section 90 of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act says that the insurance company (usually ICBC) does not have to pay any insurance money to the person suffering the bodily injury. That leaves you to sue the person that assaulted you, so if there is no insurance coverage and it turns out the person has no assets, you may have what is called a "dry judgment", which is an analogy to putting a bucket down a well to get water, but the well is "dry". There is at least one reported case where an important issue was whether a person was struck by a vehicle or by the fist of someone in the vehicle, which leads one to believe that a fist would be construed to be a weapon or an object for the purposes of s.90.
Similarily, Part 7 accident benefits will probably not be available to a person injured in a road rage situation that occurs outside the vehicle. In order to be eligible for Part 7 benefits, the injury must be caused by an accident that arises out of the "use or operation of a vehicle" according to section 79(1) of the Insurance (Vehicle) Regulations. Similar no-fault benefits were extended to a person that was the victim of a car-jacking attempt, on the basis that it was the "use and operation" of the person's own vehicle that put the person in harm's way.
Every case will turn on its specific facts, and all of the tips given in the CBC article are valid. One of the most important ones is stay in your vehicle and lock the doors. If the assaulting person goes so far as to use their vehicle as a weapon, you will be in a better position to prevent or lessen injury than if you are outside. You may also be in a better position to recover compensation and benefits for any resulting injuries.