Collisions

If you stop at a stop sign, does the cross-traffic always have the right-of-way? Most drivers in British Columbia assume the answer is yes, but the legal reality under the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) might surprise you.

If you bend your fender in British Columbia today, don't expect the police to attend. In fact, police reporting requirements for minor crashes vanished long ago. Unless someone is injured or killed, officers rarely attend the scene.

Failing to measure a load properly is an expensive crisis on B.C. highways. About once a month, an over-height vehicle or its load is involved in a collision with an overpass somewhere in British Columbia. According to the Ministry of Transportation and Transit, these preventable infrastructure crashes cause millions of dollars in structural damage, gridlock commuter traffic, and compromise public safety.

Have you ever spotted a bright yellow ribbon tied to a crashed car beside a British Columbia highway? If you are driving on any BC road, seeing this tape is an important signal. It means BC emergency services have already been to the scene, checked for injuries, and cleared the vehicle. If you see that yellow ribbon, you do not need to call emergency services.

Question: The scenario is a two car accident. Both parties have different versions of what happened but it happened in a gas station parking lot with video cameras pointed at the location of the accident. I requested the surveillance video but the gas station refuses to provide it and states I need a court order.

This case examines the duty of care that drivers and pedestrians have when the pedestrian is crossing the street outside of a crosswalk. Even when one has the right of way, there is still a requirement to keep a proper lookout and take reasonable precautions in response to apparent potential hazards.

Driving behaviour is a never ending curiosity for me, so when I heard a conversation about the intersection of Haslam and Adshead Roads south of Nanaimo I had to take a look. Apparently most drivers ignored the yield signs at this Y shaped intersection and zoomed through it as if the rest of the world was going to stop for them.

If you decide to commit a hit and run to escape responsibility for causing a crash in British Columbia the consequences can be serious if you are convicted. The courts expect drivers to remain at or return to the scene and offer help to the injured parties. An exchange of information is also required. Here is one example.

Whenever I am driving on a highway with more than one lane for my direction of travel I can expect multiple drivers to make an unsafe lane change in front of me. This robs me of the space cushion that I have established and requires me to drop back to regain it. When the roads are covered in slush this type of lane change can have significant risk for the driver behind.

When you apply for vehicle insurance with ICBC you are asked who the principal driver will be. This is the person who will be driving that vehicle the majority of the time during the term of the policy. An important factor in setting the premium for the policy is the driving history of this person.