Driving related decisions by the courts.
We often think of the physical damage caused by collisions but what about the mental harm? The case of Marcena v Thomson involves a court action for the psychological injuries suffered by a husband who watched his wife being injured in a crash as they crossed the road together and were struck by a motorcycle.
In British Columbia we are required to drive on the right hand half of the roadway. This rule applies even when we are the only driver on the road at the time. When we fail to keep right crashes like this head on collision in Richmond are the result.
This case involves a passenger car and a tractor-trailer that collided on a snow-covered stretch of the Coquihalla Highway. While the truck driver claimed he was safely established in his lane, the court found that he had suddenly pulled out to pass a slower vehicle, cutting off a passing car driver, The car driver lost control and struck the rear of the trailer, resulting in catastrophic, life-altering injuries.
Khalid Almardy was stopped by police in the early morning hours of October 21, 2017 in Victoria as he was a novice driver who was not displaying a new driver sign on his vehicle and was carrying too many passengers. Cst. Christians of the Capital Region Integrated Road Safety Unit detected the odour of liquor on Mr. Almardy's breath. Drivers in the Graduated Licensing Program must have zero blood alcohol when driving.
Drivers in the Graduated Licensing Program (GLP) are forbidden to use electronic devices while driving. Mira McEachern was a 17 year old novice driver on September 17, 2016 when she was issued a traffic ticket for violating this rule. She was convicted of that offence (records do not indicate if it was because she paid the fine or was not successful in a traffic court dispute).
Tejveer Parmar successfully used the defence of necessity to defend himself against a charge of speeding. He was initially convicted in traffic court but appealed the conviction. The justice agreed, allowed the appeal, quashed the ticket conviction and acquitted him of speeding.
On the 14th of November, 2015 at about 9:00 am, Ken Chung was operating an Audi northbound on Oak Street approaching West 41st Avenue in Vancouver. Evidence suggested that his speed was about 140 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.
Ian Tootill was convicted on a charge of loud and unnecessary exhaust system noise pursuant to Section 7A.01 of the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations by Judicial Justice Lim in traffic court. He was operating his Harley Davidson motorcycle on Beach Avenue in Vancouver and was stopped by Constable Bercic of the VPD.
In response to complaints of commercial vehicles failing to follow regulatory requirements in the District of McKenzie the police began to operate compliance check stops. A Kenworth tractor without a trailer was observed traveling northbound on Highway 39 near the causeway outside Mackenzie. The officer followed the vehicle for some kilometers before stopping it and interviewing the driver.
Rogan Lovse is a novice driver with a history of two speeding tickets and a two month driving prohibition brought on by those tickets. On receiving a third ticket for speeding, the Superintendent sent him a notice of intention to prohibit him from driving for five months.