Turns

This case decides the liability for a collision at the intersection of 184th Street and 40th Avenue in Surrey. Was the collision caused by a driver cutting corners or a driver failing to stop at the stop sign? Madam Justice Forth makes the decision.

Part of Parachute Canada's Vision Zero Collection is an explanation of centerline hardening strategies that are intended to make intersections safer for pedestrians by reducing the turning radius for motor vehicles. The use of physical objects such as bollards, delineators or rubber curbs encourage drivers to make left turns at slower speeds.

A reader writes to me describing an intersection where collisions occur regularly, some resulting in fatalities. He has observed that the opposing left turn lanes in one direction don't line up directly across from each other but are offset by a few feet. The result is that through traffic in one direction is more obscured by standing vehicles than it is in the other. To complicate matters, one direction has a protected left turn signal and the other direction does not.

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.

When I was relatively new to police work I was patrolling behind a car that had stopped at a red light with the left turn signal blinking. The next thing I knew, this car had turned left against the red light! Well, on went the lights and siren and I chased down this alleged red light runner. This would be an easy ticket, or so I thought.

The case of DeHeer v Mamdooh involves a collision that took place at the intersection of Pinetree Way and Anson Avenue in Coquitlam. Anthony DeHeer was driving on Anson Avenue and turned right onto Pinetree Way, traveling in the direction of the Lougheed Highway. Pejman Mamdooh was driving southbound on Pinetree Way, also traveling in the direction of the Lougheed Highway. The two collided.

Here is another request from a correspondent: If you have not commented on right turns at red lights you might want to consider it. I see so many people that fail to stop at a red light when turning right. They seem to feel that all they have to do is yield. Unless the rules have changed, it requires a full stop before turning.

Intersections are dangerous places. Yielding right of way is probably the main concern, but the path you travel through one is just as important. Some drivers are so sloppy with their technique that they activate the traffic signals by driving over the detection loops in the oncoming lane when they exit the intersection!

I never know what I am going to receive in my e-mail regarding this column. Recently it was a tongue in cheek request to save a marriage by settling the question about U-turns between husband and wife. Neither one of them realized that there are really very few places in British Columbia where a driver can make a U-turn legally.

The case of Gylytiuk v Krause arose from a collision between a car and a motorcycle being driven on Enterprise Way in Kelowna. Brian Gylytiuk was riding his motorcycle behind a car driven by Julia Krause east of the intersection with Dilworth Drive. A U-Turn performed by Ms. Krause caused the collision.