Case Law

Counsel for Lee Michael Wilson argued that the Approved Screening Device (ASD) result alone could not provide the officer with the reasonable grounds and that the officer was also required to point to other confirmatory evidence. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that this is not the case and dismissed the appeal of his Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP). The ruling supports the BC Motor Vehicle Act legislation that allows police to quickly and effectively remove impaired drivers from our highways.

This case concerns a collision that occurred on a gravel mountain road near Agassiz, BC. Solomon Kennedy had been passed by a pickup truck that raised a cloud of dust as it passed. Mr. Kennedy was travelling into the sun and was unable to see ahead due to the glare in the dust cloud. Connor Ferguson was travelling in the opposite direction as the pickup passed and saw that the Kennedy vehicle was partly on his side of the road. He sounded his horn and braked to a stop but was struck by the Kennedy vehicle.

This is an appeal by Bahman Zargarian from his conviction by a Judicial Justice of the Peace in Provincial Court at Nanaimo on December 19, 2012. Mr. Zargarian's vehicle had been observed in traffic by a constable who visually determined that it was travelling faster than the posted speed limit of 50 km/h. Based on that observation, the constable stopped the vehicle and issued Mr. Zargarian, who was driving, a speeding ticket. Mr. Zargarian disputed the ticket and was convicted in provincial traffic court.

In April of 2014 Michael Shmyr was convicted in Whatcom County Court in the State of Washington of the offence of driving under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Shmyr is a resident of British Columbia and holds a B.C. driver's licence.

This case arises from a collision at the intersection of West 7th Avenue and Pine Street in Vancouver, B.C. A motorcycle driven by Rizwan Ali had stopped at the stop sign on 7th anticipating a left turn onto Pine. Shirley Fineblit was following behind Mr. Ali and decided to pass by him on the left because he had been driving his motorcycle slowly and she thought he was turning right. Mr. Ali turned left and collided with Ms. Fineblit as she passed by.

It looks like British Columbia's Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) program is under a cloud again. In this case Mr. Justice B.C. MacKenzie is asked to stay a driving prohibition issued under the program to Tony Van Bree on May 23, 2015. The basis for the action is that the IRP legislation challenge has made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada and a decision on its validity in law is pending.

Kenneth Malcolm wanted by. He sped up and tailgated a vehicle in the fast lane. When it didn't move out of his way, he changed to the slow lane, overtook and tailgated the vehicle there. That driver braked briefly so that both vehicles had to slow, eventually dropping behind the vehicle that Mr. Malcolm initially hoped would get out of his way.

Jim Davies was unhappy with how close Kevin Elston parked his pickup truck to a cycle lane. The rearview mirror on the truck was a hazard to passing cyclists. Mr. Davies commented to his son who was riding along with him. Mr. Elston overheard the conversation, got into his truck and caught up to the Davies.

Harris Wheeler was driving northbound on Highway 97 in the vicinity of the brake check at the top of the South Taylor Hill. A moose ran across the road from his left and hit the front of his truck. The moose lay on the road and Mr. Wheeler stopped a short distance away to assess the damage. He did nothing to warn others of the moose.