Case Law

Driving related decisions by the courts.

CASE LAW - R v Westgate

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis case is an appeal of a conviction for excessive speeding. Gary Westgate was measured using a laser speed measuring device at 96 km/h in a posted 50 km/h zone. At issue was a document concerning a device used to measure the output of the laser device itself. The certificate had expired in April of 2006..

CASE LAW - Radjenovic v Bains

BC Courts Coat of ArmsUros Budimac was parked at the side of West 11th Avenue in Vancouver. He signalled, shoulder checked and seeing nothing approaching pulled out to travel eastbound. Part way out of the parking space he shoulder checked again and saw the headlights of another vehicle approaching him. He stopped and was struck on the left front corner by a taxi driven by Parbhjot Bains.

CASE LAW - Hunstad v Cormier

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis is a case that I had to read a number of times and refer to a picture of the intersection to understand what path Ms. Hunstad, a cyclist, had taken. Rather than cross McCallum Road in Abbotsford in a straight line by using Marshall Road she took an erratic path that included travel the wrong way on McCallum twice.

CASE LAW - Ferguson v Yang

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis case involves a collision that occurred in a school zone between vehicles parking at the curb. Mr. Ferguson had pulled over parallel to the curb and was preparing to back up and provide more room for others to park. Mr. Yang made a U turn from the other side of the street intending to pull in behind Mr. Ferguson and struck the Ferguson vehicle causing minor damage.

CASE LAW - Fraser v Konnert

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis is a small claims case that appears to involve a bit of self appointed construction zone traffic policing by two motorists, some road rage  and a minor collision when a third vehicle tried to overtake and merge. One driver was intent on merging and one driver was intent on preventing the other from merging.

Liability for Pedestrian/Cyclist Collision

BC Courts Coat of Arms imageThis determination of liability involves a collision between a pedestrian and a cyclist at the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Gosworth Road in Victoria. The pedestrian was injured and sued the cyclist. The cyclist admitted being negligent but says that the pedestrian should not have walked in front of him.

Parking Lot Pedestrian Collision

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis is the story of Lenord Russell, who exited a bakery in a mall and walked forward into a parking stall at the same time that Kenneth Parks drove into it to park his vehicle. A collision occurred in which Mr. Russell suffered injury to his knee and foot. The case before the court was to decide who was liable for the collision and discusses first that the mall parking lot is a highway and then goes on to examine the duties that Mr. Russell and Mr. Parks had to each other as pedestrian and driver.

Hit and Run Pedestrian Fatality

BC Courts Coat of Arms imageThis hit and run incident involves Mr. Antonio Alves, a prohibited driver, who was driving his truck on Renfrew Street at East 22nd Avenue in Vancouver. He pled guilty to a charge under the Criminal Code and asked the court to serve his sentence in the community under a conditional sentence order.