The case of Stevanovic v Petrovic involves playing chicken by a driver who was certainly old enough to know better. Mr. Petrovic decided to do this with his friend Mr. Stevanovic who was standing in the street waiting to be picked up. The resulting collision caused a serious leg injury.
Ratomir Stevanovic was visiting his friend Ivan Vojvodic who lived in the 800 block of West 20th Avenue in Vancouver. The two planned to go out for dinner and Mr. Stevanovic called a third friend, Stevan Petrovic inviting him to join them. Mr. Petrovic agreed and volunteered to drive everyone.
Playing Chicken
The two men were standing on the street waiting to be picked up when Mr. Petrovic arrived. Mr. Stevanovic was in the street intending to get into the vehicle behind the driver.
The court found that Mr. Petrovic drove up to Mr. Stevanovic at an unsafe speed knowing that he would have to swerve around him. He relied on Mr. Stevanovic to remain stationary so that they would not collide.
Mr. Stevanovic tried to move out of the way and chose the wrong direction. He suffered significant injury in the crash including fractures, soft tissue injuries and possibly a mild traumatic brain injury.
Determination of Liability
At trial, Mr. Stevanovic said that his injuries were caused entirely by Mr. Petrovic who saw him waiting in the roadway.
Mr. Petrovic said that Mr. Stevanovic was standing in the street in complete disregard for his own safety and if he had not moved, there would not have been a collision.
Mr. Justice Sigurdson examined the duties of drivers and pedestrians on the roadway and decided the following:
[55] There is no doubt that the defendant was negligent and caused the accident. I find on the evidence that had the plaintiff not moved immediately before the accident, the defendant still would have had to steer his vehicle sharply to the left to avoid the collision. In other words, the defendant could not have avoided the collision by simply applying his brakes immediately before the plaintiff moved. The defendant was planning to swing to his left at the last second and drive around the plaintiff. The accident was the result a very risky and dangerous approach by the defendant.
[69] The defendant says that the plaintiff had a complete disregard for his own safety by standing in the street, and continuing to do so once he had seen the defendant, and instead of watching the defendant, chose to turn away and speak to his friend. I do not think that the vehicle driven by the defendant potentially posed any realistic danger to the plaintiff. I find that the plaintiff did not expect that the defendant would do anything other than drive up to him and stop. No doubt the defendant, at the last moment, was trying to do everything in his ability to avoid the impact, however that was only because a hazard was created by the defendant’s reckless approach.
Mr. Petrovic was found 100% liable for playing chicken with his friend.
Learn More
Share This Article
- Log in to post comments