Collisions

This case concerns a collision that occurred on a gravel mountain road near Agassiz, BC. Solomon Kennedy had been passed by a pickup truck that raised a cloud of dust as it passed. Mr. Kennedy was travelling into the sun and was unable to see ahead due to the glare in the dust cloud. Connor Ferguson was travelling in the opposite direction as the pickup passed and saw that the Kennedy vehicle was partly on his side of the road. He sounded his horn and braked to a stop but was struck by the Kennedy vehicle.

This case arises from a collision at the intersection of West 7th Avenue and Pine Street in Vancouver, B.C. A motorcycle driven by Rizwan Ali had stopped at the stop sign on 7th anticipating a left turn onto Pine. Shirley Fineblit was following behind Mr. Ali and decided to pass by him on the left because he had been driving his motorcycle slowly and she thought he was turning right. Mr. Ali turned left and collided with Ms. Fineblit as she passed by.

Here's a good overview of what happens when you are involved in a crash from the One Crash is Too Many web site. They are written by Paul Hergott of Hergott Law in Kelowna and are worth the read to see what you may have to cope with after being involved in a collision.

It appears that the Abbotsford Police Department is following the lead of other agencies such as TACVictoria with a no-punches-pulled video reminding drivers to yield to pedestrians and not drive while distracted. It could equally well be used to remind pedestrians to watch for vehicles when they use a marked crosswalk.

In response to hearing the siren of an approaching fire engine, Cindy Li slowed in preparation to yield to it. While her vehicle was still moving, it was struck from behind by another car. She stopped, exited her car, walked back to the other car and spoke to the young male driver, requesting that he pull over to exchange information. As she returned to her car, the male drove around her and disappeared from sight.

This video of a multiple vehicle collision was contributed by the driver in the middle. He was stopped waiting to turn left with his wheels turned to the left in anticipation. The driver of pickup following behind apparently fails to notice the left turn driver slow and stop in front of him, resulting in the first collision.

My 18 year old son finally got his N on March 11/15.  He was involved in an accident on March 30/15  - he was traveling down a narrow roadway and had a momentary lapse in concentration (no phones/other people in the car) and the front tire of his car clipped the front tire of a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction - neither car was travelling at any great rate of speed - no ones airbags deployed.

Imagine making a lane change and crashing into a fully marked police vehicle stopped at the side of the highway with all of its emergency lights operating. I can only guess that the driver was not properly scanning his environment and looking far enough ahead to anticipate issues before they happen.

This is a very interesting book about distracted driving. Interwoven with the story about Reggie Shaw and how he caused a double fatal collision by texting while driving is information on the research and researchers who are studying how our brain deals with the distraction from mobile phone use while driving. To put it bluntly, we are incapable of driving safely while using a mobile phone, hands on, hands free or texting while driving.

This case involves a collision that occurred on Quarry Road in Coquitlam, B.C. Todd McQuillan stopped the Chevrolet Aveo he was driving on the shoulder just past the crest of a hill in order to photograph a bear that had crossed the road in front of him. Madam Justice Gray found that it was possible that part of the vehicle was in the travelled part of the lane. The road has a posted speed of 50 km/h.