CASE LAW - Fatal Rear End Collision

This is a tragic case where a rear end collision resulted in the death of a taxi driver and severe burns to his passenger when the taxi caught fire post collision. The driver who caused the collision was charged for driving without due care and attention.

The Rear End Collision

The events that led up to the taxi being struck in the rear end are no doubt common in every day traffic here in British Columbia, but in this case did not end in a near miss.

The young man responsible was distracted by operating his stereo or air conditioning, even after observing the taxi in front of him to have been driven erratically. The inattention resulted in the crash when the taxi stopped and was not noticed until too late.

Location of the Collision

The Court's Decision

[17] In my view, the observations that Mr. Chisholm made of the manner in which the Taxi was being driven during the short period leading up to the collision put him, or ought reasonably to have put him, on notice of an increased potential for a motor vehicle accident. As Mr. Chisholm expressed himself on the point, the driver of the Taxi was displaying “bad” driving. He was travelling too quickly at times and braked “abruptly” when confronted with a need to bring his vehicle to a stop. Having seen what he did as he followed the Taxi along Mariner Way, it was incumbent upon Mr. Chisholm to take extra care to avoid an accident. More specifically, the pattern of driving displayed by the driver of the Taxi, and witnessed a short while before the accident by Mr. Chisholm, increased the requirement of vigilance on Mr. Chisholm’s part for further “abrupt” braking or other examples of “bad” driving for so long as he was travelling behind, and in the same lane, as the Taxi.

[18] Why were the stakes raised in this way for Mr. Chisholm? The reason is obvious. The pattern of driving that the driver of the Taxi displayed quite plainly exposed any vehicle following behind it to an increased risk of a rear-end collision.

[19] Did Mr. Chisholm do what the reasonable person would do in those particular circumstances? That is, in light of the specifics of the “bad” driving he had witnessed ahead of him as he followed the Taxi along Mariner to the intersection with Dewdney Trunk, and then afterward as he followed it into the single westbound lane on Dewdney Trunk, did Mr. Chisholm take all the reasonable care required of him in those particular circumstances?

[20] I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not.

Learn More

• R v Chisholm - Reasons for Judgment
• R v Chisholm - Reasons for Sentence

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