Collisions

Well, I've seen this coming for months. There is an off-ramp on Hwy1, exit#28 onto Boundary Rd heading south, just before Grandview Hwy; and immediately after there is a tiny little street called E 11th Ave. I take the off-ramp about 5 times a week and almost every time some genius takes a right turn from Boundary's middle lane into the 11th. Most of the time I am able to foresee this and come off at about 30km/h waiting for the next bright mind to turn across my nose with-out a shoulder-check.

The matter at trial is the liability for a serious collision that took place on the Coquihalla Highway in an area known as Larson Hill on August 11, 2011. A pickup truck and camper driven by Mildred Eileen Boizard was travelling southbound in the rightmost of 3 southbound lanes at a speed of between 80 and 85 km/h in the posted 110 km/h speed zone. She overtook two tractor-trailer units, one in her lane and one in the center lane.

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 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.

Here's a good overview of what happens when you are involved in a crash from the One Crash is Too Many web site. They are written by Paul Hergott of Hergott Law in Kelowna and are worth the read to see what you may have to cope with after being involved in a collision.

It appears that the Abbotsford Police Department is following the lead of other agencies such as TACVictoria with a no-punches-pulled video reminding drivers to yield to pedestrians and not drive while distracted. It could equally well be used to remind pedestrians to watch for vehicles when they use a marked crosswalk.

This video of a multiple vehicle collision was contributed by the driver in the middle. He was stopped waiting to turn left with his wheels turned to the left in anticipation. The driver of pickup following behind apparently fails to notice the left turn driver slow and stop in front of him, resulting in the first collision.

My 18 year old son finally got his N on March 11/15.  He was involved in an accident on March 30/15  - he was traveling down a narrow roadway and had a momentary lapse in concentration (no phones/other people in the car) and the front tire of his car clipped the front tire of a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction - neither car was travelling at any great rate of speed - no ones airbags deployed.

Imagine making a lane change and crashing into a fully marked police vehicle stopped at the side of the highway with all of its emergency lights operating. I can only guess that the driver was not properly scanning his environment and looking far enough ahead to anticipate issues before they happen.

This is a very interesting book about distracted driving. Interwoven with the story about Reggie Shaw and how he caused a double fatal collision by texting while driving is information on the research and researchers who are studying how our brain deals with the distraction from mobile phone use while driving. To put it bluntly, we are incapable of driving safely while using a mobile phone, hands on, hands free or texting while driving.