Case Law

Driving related decisions by the courts.

CASE LAW - R v Khan

BC Courts Coat of ArmsShan Khan was a pedestrian trying to cross 152nd Street at 81st Avenue in Surrey. She crossed to the median barrier dividing the four lanes of traffic and waited for the approaching vehicles to stop. When the vehicle using the lane nearest to her did stop, she began to cross. Unfortunately the driver behind that vehicle did not stop, changed lanes to pass it and struck Ms. Khan.

CASE LAW - R v Rahmani

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis is an appeal to the Supreme Court over the dismissal of a number of violation tickets by Judicial Justice Adair. In each case the justice decided to dismiss these traffic tickets because they took too long to proceed to trial. Neither the Crown nor the disputants involved had any input into these decisions.

Determining Liability for a Bicycle Collision

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThe case of Salo v ICBC involves a bicycle collision that took place at an intersection with North End Road on Saltspring Island. Mr. Salo was seriously injured in the incident and sued ICBC. He claimed that an unidentified driver who was at the scene was responsible for the collision and asked the court to determine liability.

CASE LAW - R v Gjoka

BC Courts Coat of ArmsMarlen Gjoka was travelling eastbound on the Trans Canada Highway entering the posted 50 km/h speed zone that begins near the Harriet Road intersection. Constable Klear of the Saanich police department was stationed 350 meters into the zone observing and measuring the speeds of approaching traffic. He estimated Mr. Gjoka's speed at 100 km/h and using an UltraLyte LRB laser device he measured the speed at 99 km/h.

CASE LAW - Eller v British Columbia (Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)

BC Courts Coat of ArmsWilliam Eller represented the Aspen Road Community's interests in this action against the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure's (MOTI) proposed changes to the Malahat Highway intersection serving their area. The action was taken because the residents felt that the MOTI failed to incorporate their concerns into the improvement project. An injunction was requested to prevent the changes being made until the safest design for the affected area was determined in full consultation with the residents.

CASE LAW - Truax v Hryb

BC Courts Coat of ArmsHarvey Truax stopped his empty B train combination on the shoulder of Highway 1 near Sorrento, B.C. He allowed the 4 vehicles that had been following him to pass by before he started to make a left turn across the highway into a pullout. His left signal was in operation and he had 300 to 400 m. of highway visible behind him. Finding no overtaking traffic, he began to move from the shoulder into the pullout across the highway.

CASE LAW - Hamman v ICBC

BC Courts Coat of ArmsDo you have $212,000.00 in spare disposable income? Ryan Hamman rear ended a vehicle that was stopped on Highway 1 near 176 Street in Surrey, B.C. That vehicle was driven forward into the vehicle in front of it and the driver of the first vehicle was injured. ICBC denied coverage because Mr. Hamman was impaired by alcohol at the time of the collision. Litigation ensued with the final outcome being damages against Mr. Hamman and in favour of ICBC amounting to $212,000.00.

CASE LAW - R v Jahani

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis case results from a cell phone infraction enforcement deployment at the intersection of Marine Drive and Capilano Road in North Vancouver. On October 28, 2015 Masoud Jahani was observed looking down while stopped at a red light. When the constable approached Mr. Jahani's vehicle, he could be seen with a cell phone in his hand. He was directed to the side of the road where he told police that he had been inserting a charging cord into the phone because the battery was low. A violation ticket was issued.