Driving related decisions by the courts.
Can 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.
This 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.
ICBC requires vehicle owners to declare who the principal driver of the vehicle will be during the purchase of an insurance policy. The driving record of the principal driver (75%) and the highest risk listed driver (25%) determine the cost of the policy. A deliberate misrepresentation of who will be driving could result in a claim being denied.
When you receive mail from the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles (aka: RoadSafetyBC) it is never a good idea to ignore it. Garret Cole received a driving prohibition notice and did not open the envelope. Shortly after that he was found driving by police and charged. At trial he tried to convince the court that he did not know that he was a prohibited driver.
Kelly Rae Rhone was charged for operating a motor vehicle without proper insurance while driving on the Trans Canada Highway at Mill Bay, B.C. Ms. Rhone disputed the traffic ticket on the basis that keeping the insurance current was her husband's job and that she did not know the insurance was expired.
Is it a Motor Assisted Cycle (MAC) or a Limited Speed Motorcycle (LSM)? In the case of R v Rei it all comes down to whether there are pedals installed so that the driver may physically propel the device or not.
The reasons for judgment of Mr. Justice Sigurdson (in chambers) continues from the case where he found that British Columbia's Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) where a driver provided a fail breath sample was contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it did not provide for sufficient grounds for review of a prohibition.
This case arises from a distracted driving related collision that happened at the intersection of Ware Road and Highway 19 in Lantzville. Valerie Shaver was turning left from Ware Road to northbound on Highway 19 and Graeme Lymbery was travelling southbound on Highway 19 approaching the Ware Road intersection.
Mr. Soriano was convicted of speeding and fined $138 on April 6, 2010. He subsequently appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of BC claiming that the verdict was unreasonable because he was not exceeding the speed limit. There was a miscarriage of justice because his hearing was not fair. The Justice showed an attitude toward him that offended and intimidated him.
A green light doesn't always mean go unless you've had a good look to make sure that there are no hazards present before you proceed. Jennifer Biggers learned this when the vehicle she was driving collided with Carol Murdoch, who was crossing quickly in a marked crosswalk against a red light at the intersection of Blanshard Street and Saanich Road in Victoria.