The BC Supreme Court has found the driver of a slow-moving camper had a share of the blame for causing an accident on the Coquihalla Highway back in 2011.
In a civil case ruling that came down last Thursday (Oct. 22) a judge found that a woman who was driving a pickup truck hauling a camper was 10 per cent responsible for the ensuing crash.
The incident occurred at about 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 11 approximately 30 kilometres south of Merritt up Larson Hill.
Four vehicles travelling southbound at different speeds collided, causing catastrophic injuries in the process.
One of the vehicles was a semi-truck hauling two trailers of wood chips in the farthest-right lane of the three lane stretch of road. This truck was driving at 25 km/h and had its four-way flashers on.
Coming up behind this vehicle but in the middle lane was another semi-truck, which was driving at about 70 km/h with its flashers on.
Behind this vehicle in the same middle lane was a woman driving a pickup truck with a camper attached. She was doing about 85 km/h and attempted to pass the rig by entering the left lane.
While attempting to overtake the semi a man driving a SUV came up behind the camper and rather than slowing to match its speed, attempted a move to the farthest right lane in order to pass the truck in the middle lane.
The speed limit at the time was 110 km/h and the judge found the SUV to be travelling “well in excess of 128 kph.”
When the SUV swerved in front of the semi it wound up colliding with the semi in the farthest-right lane. It’s passenger side was torn off and the SUV went into a spin.
“The trailer was made to carry multiple tons of wood chips. It was very solidly built. The Suburban, in contrast, might as well have been made of cardboard,” the judge wrote in his findings.
The spinning SUV hit a cement barrier between traffic lanes, skidded, and came to rest facing south.
Two female passengers of the SUV had their seat belts torn and were thrown from the vehicle and suffered severe injuries.
The judge found the female driver took too long to pass the semi in the middle lane, finding she was a timid driver and could have driven her camper faster to over take the semi, but instead chose a relatively leisurely pace and in doing so blocked the left lane for longer than was necessary.
The judge thus found the driver of the SUV and the driver of the camper jointly and severally liable for the plaintiffs’ losses.
Don Renaud, lead counsel representing one of the passengers said the decision will go a long way in helping the two women receive care for their injuries. Damages, however, have yet to be assessed.
“The importance of this case was it was not only the aggressive driver who bore responsibility, but also some responsibility was laid at the feet of the driver of a camper truck who was driving in the fast lane at 25 to 30 kilometres and hour under the speed limit,” Renaud said.
A press release issued by the law firm representing that plaintiff is calling the collision an example of what the Ministry of Transportation’s ‘Keep Right’ initiative is trying to prevent.
This past spring, B.C. introduced a new law that allows police to ticket drivers who are travelling in the left lane on a highway and not passing a vehicle.
