Unfortunately, there are motor vehicle accidents that can occur during police pursuits. Such accidents frequently occur at very high rates of speeds, and are quite often fatal. A collision can occur between a police cruiser and the Plaintiff‘s vehicle, or between the Plaintiff‘s vehicle and the vehicle being pursued by the police.
In Bergen v. Guliker, a motorist was killed in a head on collision with a vehicle being pursued at a high rate of speed by the police. The Defendant was known to be suicidal, and was chased by the police after getting into his vehicle. Counsel for the Plaintiffs argued that the RCMP owed a duty of care to users of the roadway, including the Plaintiffs, and that the RCMP through its’ actions breached such a duty of care. Counsel for the Defendants argued that such a duty of care does exist during a pursuit, however that no pursuit occurred in this case. Further, counsel for the Defendants submitted that if such a duty of care does exist, then the RCMP had met its’ required standard of care. The Court held that the R.C.M.P. was partially liable for the collision in the amount of 20%.
[248] Instead, Constables Huff and Brand approached Mr. Guliker without knowing the location of the other officers available to assist them and aware that Mr. Guliker would see them approaching and was likely to flee. I can reach no other reasonable conclusion than that the RCMP plan at that moment was captured by words “if he runs, we’ll chase him”.
[249] Once Mr. Guliker accelerated down Bustin Road, it was obvious to the RCMP officers that Mr. Guliker’s sighting of their vehicles precipitated his flight. A proper risk assessment at this point would have alerted the officers to the significant public safety risk of chasing a suicidal individual who is determined to evade apprehension down unfamiliar rural roads at high rates of speed.
[250] Nevertheless, the officers commenced and continued a pursuit of Mr. Guliker up to the point of the Collision.
[251] To summarize, in my opinion Constables Huff and Brand failed to conduct a proper risk assessment at two critical times: (1) before deciding to proceed down Bustin Road without a plan in place that recognised the likelihood of Mr. Guliker fleeing in his vehicle, and (2) after proceeding down Bustin Road toward Mr. Guliker’s location and seeing him accelerate away. A proper first risk assessment would have precipitated the development of a plan to address the likelihood of Mr. Guliker fleeing. A proper second risk assessment would have called off the chase and considered other options.
[252] I find that Constables Huff and Brand did not act within the standard of a reasonable police officer, acting reasonably and within the statutory powers imposed upon them in the circumstances of this case. In the result, the RCMP officers breached their duty of care owed to the plaintiffs.
