Collisions

The dreaded Right Hook: Where a driver passes by on the cyclist's left and then makes a right hand turn, oblivious to the fact that the cyclist was there and had to be yielded to. A study by University of Toronto Engineering found that drivers often fail to adequately scan for non-motorists when they turn right at intersections. In fact, more than half of 19 participants aged between 35 and 54 years old were guilty of this.

The case of Steinebach v Skittrell involves a collision between a car driven by Katherine Skittrell turning right over a bicycle lane to enter the Gables townhouse complex and Mark Steinebach, a cyclist who was using that bicycle lane. Ms. Skittrell should have been aware of Mr. Steinebach, as she had nearly collided with him in the intersection of Promotory Road and Teskey Way a short distance away.

Webinar hosted by the BC Injury Prevention Unit and conducted by Dr. Jeff Brubacher, Associate Professor, Dept. of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia. Unfortunately, the video sound is poor.

The case of Carrero v Park takes place on North Road at the intersection with Rochester Street in Burnaby. Bobby Joe Carrero was riding his bicycle southbound on the sidewalk on the west side of North Road approaching the intersection. Na Young Park was driving southbound on North Road intending to make a right turn onto Rochester Street. Neither one saw the other as they approached the intersection.

The case of Clark v ICBC involves an alleged single vehicle hit & run collision on Marble Lake Road between the Ashton Creek Store and the Cooke Creeke Campground. Christopher Clark was driving a Jeep Patriot eastbound from the store when he met a pickup that strayed over the yellow centre line of the highway into his lane.

The case of Bains v Watkins might be a classic He Said / She Said situation. The purpose of the trial was to decide who was on the wrong side of the road when a head on collision between vehicles driven by Janice Watkins and Surinder Bains occurred. The incident occurred on 84 Avenue near the 135A Street intersection in Surrey.

The case of R v Francisco involves a collision on June 7, 2019 in Burnaby that resulted in the death of a pedestrian, Louise Landreth. Roberto Francisco was driving a BMW sedan erratically over a period of about one hour and twenty minutes until a collision at high speed resulted in a loss of control and Ms. Landreth being struck and killed.

The case of Doyle v Hubick determines the liability for a two vehicle collision on the Sea to Sky Highway 32 km south of Pemberton. Both vehicles reached the end of the passing lane at about the same time. The drivers were unable to decide who should pull ahead and who should drop back ultimately resulting in a crash.

The case of Petes v Petersen illustrates the dangers of making a lane change at or near an intersection. The collision that gave rise to this occurred at the intersection of Marshall Road and Guilford Drive in Abbotsford. James Petersen was driving his Ford Fusion westbound on Marshall and Laszlo Petes was driving his Suzuki pickup southbound on Guilford, turning right onto Marshall.

RoadSafetyBC has published a report, Motor Vehicle Related Crashes, Injuries and Fatalities: 10 Year Statistics for British Columbia, 2011-2020.