Driving related decisions by the courts.
The Criminal Code now allows a peace officer to demand breath samples from a driver without having a reasonable suspicion that the driver has alcohol in his body. This case determines that mandatory alcohol screening is not a violation of the driver's Charter rights.
The case of Close v Tigas involves a collision on 18th Street at the lane west of Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver. Andria Close was driving her Volkswagen Golf westbound on 18th Street and Ryan Tigas was driving his Mitsubishi Outlander northbound in the lane approaching 18th. Mr. Tigas' view to the east was obstructed by a truck and camper parked to the right of the lane on the south side of 18th Street.
The case of Borgford v Ball involves a collision at the intersection of 190 Street and 34A Avenue in Surrey. Although the speed limit was 50 km/h, both drivers were travelling at about 90 km/h. Ms. Borgford was operating a Dodge Avenger westbound on 34A Avenue and Ms. Ball was operating a Dodge Ram 2500 northbound on 190 Street.
The case of Niyokuku v Cheasley arose from a collision on 76 Avenue at the north exit of the Real Canadian Superstore in Surrey. Ms. Niyokuku turned westbound from the parking lot into the first through lane.
The case of Vora v Adams takes place in the Nakusp area. Douglas Fryer was walking on the right side of 10th Avenue NW because that was the side of the road that street lighting was on. There was no sidewalk, the road was strewn with debris from a previous storm and the shoulders were covered by snowbanks.
The case of Vora v Adams resulted from a collision at the intersection of 96 Avenue at 168 street in Surrey. The crash occurred in darkness, high winds and rain. The questions to be resolved at trial were concerning the headlights on the Vora vehicle and whether the traffic lights were functioning or not.
The case of R v Alderson takes place in Campbell River. It involves Jason Alderson and Michael Brown, who met while Mr. Brown was backing out of a parking lot onto Leishman Road. Mr. Alderson drove by on Mr. Brown's left and was subsequently confronted by him a short distance away.
The case of Small v Kanhai takes place in the Town Center mall parking lot in Coquitlam. A group of teens had gathered there and were watching Kesean Kanhai perform powerslides with a Mini Cooper. One of that group, Matthew Small, decided to leave and attend another gathering.
This case from the provincial court in North Vancouver shows that licence plate evidence is critical to a ticket issued through the use of an Intersection Safety Camera. If the photo of the offending vehicle's licence plate is not clear enough to show it is a BC licence plate the ticket will be dismissed.
The case of Siegrist v Wiens takes place on Highway 1 near Canoe. 17 year old Kenton Wiens was driving a farm tractor pulling a hay wagon loaded with large round bales southbound. Helen Siegrist was following behind in a Nissan Sentra. When oncoming traffic cleared, Mrs. Siegrist attempted to pass Mr. Wiens.