Case Law

Abdulrahman Al Farraj is a Saudi Arabian national attending school full time in British Columbia. He was checked by police and produced a Kingdom of Saudi Arabia driver's licence that contained a few words of English and the balance in Arabic. Cst. Hildred of the CRD IRSU unit issued a violation ticket to Mr. Al Farraj for failing to produce a driver's licence as he did not produce a translation that would allow determination of what Mr. Al Farraj was licenced for.

This case examines a collision between a cyclist, Kyle Ilett, and a driver, Leah Buckley, at the intersection of Admirals Road and Seenupin Road in Esquimalt, B.C. Mr. Ilett was riding northbound on the shoulder of Admirals Road nearing Seenupin Road. The shoulder was marked by a single solid white line on both sides of the road.

One way of preparing for a traffic ticket dispute is to request disclosure from the officer who issued it. It was relatively rare to receive such a request but when one did appear the disputant often asked for everything, including the tread depth of the right rear tire on the police car. It was fairly clear that the request was based on advice found on the internet rather than obtained from a lawyer. Disclosing less than what was requested (but still reasonable in the circumstances) resulted in complaints to the justice at the hearing.

This case concerns liability for a collision between a driver and a pedestrian at a traffic circle. The pedestrian was using a cellphone as she approached the traffic circle and began to cross in the marked crosswalk. The driver failed to see the pedestrian who was visible and collided with her.

This is a case where a series of bad decisions and defective equipment led to the death of a pedestrian walking on a path beside the highway at Ucluelet. Van Nho Nguyen had performed maintenance on the rear brakes of his truck that resulted in those brakes not functioning correctly.

On September 21, 2014 Barry Drake was driving a vehicle on Loughborough Drive in Campbell River, B.C. He was a prohibited driver and had decided to "do doughnuts" in a residential area that is part of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation’s Reserve. The street is marked with a sign that reads “You Are Now Entering Private Land - Please Drive carefully.”

When you turn right after stopping at an intersection, you are required to turn from a position close to the curb to a position close to the curb. Failing to do so properly could result in a side swipe collision if a vehicle is passing by in the left lane of the cross street. In the case of Matharu v Gill, Hardeep Matharu was travelling to work westbound on Nordell Way using the left hand lane.

Erin Couldwell was operating his bicycle at the exit of a parking lot onto a lane near the Victoria Police Department headquarters just before 7:00 am on September 25, 2014. His bicycle had neither lights nor reflectors. Constable Horonowitsch had just commenced his dayshift and was approaching the parking lot exit in the lane driving a marked police vehicle with it's normal vehicle lighting on.

This is a case from the BC Court of Appeal that upholds a judgement from the Supreme Court. The incident in question occurred when Peter Link was driving his Jaguar in a snowstorm on Highway 99 between the Highway 10 and Highway 91 exits in Richmond. He was driving at a speed between 40 and 60 km/h when he was passed by an SUV that threw a large amount of snow onto his windshield as it passed by.

The police must follow the provisions of the Emergency Vehicle Driving Regulation when they intend to employ the exemption from the rules of the road set out in the Motor Vehicle Act. In this case, Constable Jacobson was driving his police vehicle on Highway 97 at Daimler Drive in West Kelowna approaching a red light. Hoping to save a few minutes arriving at a complaint he activated the police vehicles's emergency lights and siren about 4 - 5 vehicle lengths’ back from the beginning of the left turn lane on Highway 97 going south.