In Vance v. Cartwright, the Plaintiff was injured when the motorcycle he was on collided with the back of a vehicle. The Plaintiff brought an ICBC claim for pain and suffering, as well as various other types of damages. The Plaintiff, believing the Defendant would be turning left, attempted to ride behind the Defendant‘s vehicle, however the Defendant‘s vehicle stopped instead. The Plaintiff struck the back of the vehicle, and was injured as a result. By consent, the liability component of the claim was severed from quantum (amount of damages). Although it was common ground that the Plaintiff had the right of way, the Court ruled that the Plaintiff was wholly liable for the accident.
[42] I find that the accident happened through no fault on the part of the defendant. She did what was reasonably expected of her. She stopped at the line, checked for traffic, moved forward slowly giving her improved sight lines, and when she saw the oncoming motorcycle stopped again. She cannot be held responsible for his decision to veer to the right.
[43] The plaintiff says that the defendant was moving into his lane and that he felt she was committed to making her left turn. That evidence struck me as a post hoc rationalization of the plaintiff’s actions. There was nothing in the defendant’s actions to indicate she was doing anything other than proceeding forward slowly before committing to a turn.
[44] I find this accident happened solely due to the plaintiff’s fault. He approached an intersection which he ought to have known had limited visibility, travelling not out towards the centre line where he would have been more easily seen, but far to the right, making him less visible to the defendant. He was speeding which cut his reaction time and would have cut the reaction time of other drivers as well.
[45] The evidence of how he reacted when he saw the defendant’s car is, at least, equally consistent with him having panicked when he saw the defendant’s car or with him having made a poor reactive choice reflecting his lack of training and experience.