Case Law

Driving related decisions by the courts.

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.

CASE LAW - R v Prasad

BC Courts Coat of ArmsIn this case, Avinash Prasad has pled guilty to driving without due care and attention after having been charged with dangerous driving causing death. This follows from a collision on March 28, 2009 near the intersection of 64th Avenue and 176th Street in Surrey.

CASE LAW - Taylor v Depew

BC Courts Coat of ArmsCan you spare $206,333.05? This is the amount that the defendant, Matthew Depew, has been required to pay Sean Taylor for damages suffered in an off road collision. Mr. Taylor was riding a motorcycle in poor repair and Mr. Depew was driving a dune buggy on a single lane dirt forest road serving a forest service camp site near Campbell River.

CASE LAW - R v Dickson

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis Supreme Court case from 2003 is useful to illustrate two topics: lane splitting by motorcyclists is illegal in BC and traffic court justices may prohibit drivers based on a bad driving record and have the prohibition upheld by the higher courts.