Driving related decisions by the courts.
On September 21, 2014 Barry Drake was driving a vehicle on Loughborough Drive in Campbell River, B.C. He was a prohibited driver and had decided to "do doughnuts" in a residential area that is part of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation’s Reserve. The street is marked with a sign that reads “You Are Now Entering Private Land - Please Drive carefully.”
When you turn right after stopping at an intersection, you are required to turn from a position close to the curb to a position close to the curb. Failing to do so properly could result in a side swipe collision if a vehicle is passing by in the left lane of the cross street. In the case of Matharu v Gill, Hardeep Matharu was travelling to work westbound on Nordell Way using the left hand lane.
Erin Couldwell was operating his bicycle at the exit of a parking lot onto a lane near the Victoria Police Department headquarters just before 7:00 am on September 25, 2014. His bicycle had neither lights nor reflectors. Constable Horonowitsch had just commenced his dayshift and was approaching the parking lot exit in the lane driving a marked police vehicle with it's normal vehicle lighting on.
This is a case from the BC Court of Appeal that upholds a judgement from the Supreme Court. The incident in question occurred when Peter Link was driving his Jaguar in a snowstorm on Highway 99 between the Highway 10 and Highway 91 exits in Richmond. He was driving at a speed between 40 and 60 km/h when he was passed by an SUV that threw a large amount of snow onto his windshield as it passed by.
The police must follow the provisions of the Emergency Vehicle Driving Regulation when they intend to employ the exemption from the rules of the road set out in the Motor Vehicle Act. In this case, Constable Jacobson was driving his police vehicle on Highway 97 at Daimler Drive in West Kelowna approaching a red light. Hoping to save a few minutes arriving at a complaint he activated the police vehicles's emergency lights and siren about 4 - 5 vehicle lengths’ back from the beginning of the left turn lane on Highway 97 going south.
This case was sparked by a driver who felt that he was entitled to be next in line at a Tim Horton's drive through in Mill Bay, B.C. He attempted to assert his place by bumping the tire of the pickup truck he felt that he should be in front of. Giving way because of the size difference, this man caught up to the pickup on the highway after they had exited the drive through. He pulled in front of it and braked suddenly several times, finally coming to a stop in the curb lane.
This is definitely an odd case! It shows the value of doing regular vehicle maintenance and keeping the receipts to account for it.
The matter at trial is the liability for a serious collision that took place on the Coquihalla Highway in an area known as Larson Hill on August 11, 2011. A pickup truck and camper driven by Mildred Eileen Boizard was travelling southbound in the rightmost of 3 southbound lanes at a speed of between 80 and 85 km/h in the posted 110 km/h speed zone. She overtook two tractor-trailer units, one in her lane and one in the center lane.
On January 13, 2015 Van Nhut Nguyen was sentenced for failing to produce his driver's licence. The penalty was a $750 fine and one year term of probation during which he was not allowed to operate a motor vehicle between the hours of 7:00 pm and 6:00 am. It would appear that this is the result of an incident of driving while being prohibited from doing so.
Counsel for Lee Michael Wilson argued that the Approved Screening Device (ASD) result alone could not provide the officer with the reasonable grounds and that the officer was also required to point to other confirmatory evidence. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that this is not the case and dismissed the appeal of his Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP). The ruling supports the BC Motor Vehicle Act legislation that allows police to quickly and effectively remove impaired drivers from our highways.