Driving related decisions by the courts.
The case of Bains v Watkins might be a classic He Said / She Said situation. The purpose of the trial was to decide who was on the wrong side of the road when a head on collision between vehicles driven by Janice Watkins and Surinder Bains occurred. The incident occurred on 84 Avenue near the 135A Street intersection in Surrey.
The case of R v Francisco involves a collision on June 7, 2019 in Burnaby that resulted in the death of a pedestrian, Louise Landreth. Roberto Francisco was driving a BMW sedan erratically over a period of about one hour and twenty minutes until a collision at high speed resulted in a loss of control and Ms. Landreth being struck and killed.
On August 28, 2014 a tour bus crash occurred on the Coquihalla Highway south of Merritt. 56 people were injured, 15 of them seriously. A civil action, Ding v Prevost, was taken against a number of parties involved in the tour that included Prevost, the manufacturer of the bus. Jie Ding and the other plaintiffs involved claim that their injuries were made worse by the lack of seatbelts on the bus.
The case of Doyle v Hubick takes place on Highway 99 known as the Sea to Sky Highway, 32 km south of Pemberton. Sandra Doyle and Darcy Hubick were driving southbound toward Whistler. Ms. Doyle was overtaking Mr. Hubick and decided to pass somewhere in the first half of a two lane passing area by moving to the left lane. Their vehicles collided where the two lanes merged at the end of the passing area.
The case of Petes v Petersen illustrates the dangers of making a lane change at or near an intersection. The collision that gave rise to this occurred at the intersection of Marshall Road and Guilford Drive in Abbotsford. James Petersen was driving his Ford Fusion westbound on Marshall and Laszlo Petes was driving his Suzuki pickup southbound on Guilford, turning right onto Marshall.
Kimberly Hrynyk pulled into a Starbucks in Victoria. She used her cellphone to place an order only to discover that the business was closed for the day. Ms. Hrynyk left the parking lot via Tillicum Road.
Joseph Munden and Ephrahim Barnett used to be neighbours, did not care for each other and were not on good terms. May 8, 2019 found the two at the intersection of 4th Avenue North and Proctor Street in Williams Lake. Mr. Barnett was riding his bicycle southbound on 4th and Mr. Munden turned from eastbound on Proctor to northbound on 4th.
David Sharp and Jason Butter were walking on Harriet Road in Victoria. At about 6:00 pm on that December evening it was fully dark and there was no street lighting present. They crossed the street at an angle in the intersection with Battleford Avenue because Mr. Sharp did not feel safe walking on the side without a sidewalk.
The case of R v Labbee involves a pedestrian collision at the intersection of Patten Avenue and Mary Street in Chilliwack. Fourghozaman Firoozian was crossing Mary Street from west to east in the marked crosswalk. A southbound silver-grey pickup failed to stop for her, knocking her down and driving over her.
What do you have stored in your vehicle to protect yourself in the event of a breakdown or collision? Most of us will probably reply that they don't have anything prepared for this eventuality. In fact, with the reliability of vehicles today and perhaps not having been involved in a significant collision before, we may be lulled into thinking that we don't really need it.