Judge dismisses driver's suit who though speed warning was "suggestion"

Judge dismisses driver's suit who thought speed warning was "suggestion"

A BC judge has dismissed a suit against the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia by a woman involved in a head-on crash on the Sunshine Coast in 2016.

Melissa Leach, 33 at the time, was driving her father’s Jeep along Highway 101 with her sister in the passenger seat when she rounded a curve, lost control of the vehicle, and crashed head-on into an oncoming pickup truck.

She said she lost control because there was a substance on the road that made it slippery — she suggested it was a possible fuel spill.

After hearing from expert witnesses, police, and examining photos from the scene, Chief Justice Hinkson accepted there was a slippery substance on the road that day. It could have been diesel fuel that spilled from the tank of a commercial truck as it rounded the bend, he wrote in his April 2022 decision.

But although the judge accepted that fuel was on the road, and firefighters even put down sawdust to clean it up and prevent another collision, he didn’t accept the driver’s allegation that ICBC and the road maintenance contractor were negligent.

He decided that, ultimately, it was Leach who lost control of the vehicle and ended up on the other side of the road, causing the crash. Expert witnesses also suggested that if she took the turn at the recommended 30 kilometres per hour, she would have been able to follow the curve despite the slippery substance.

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During proceedings, Leach apparently said the yellow warning sign was a “suggestion.” It is true that yellow speed signs are recommendations and not law, but a police officer who responded to the crash attested that taking the curve at the posted speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour would have been dangerous.

One expert witness, an engineer by training, said that navigating the curve at a speed greater than 40 kilometres per hour would have caused her car to slip if there were diesel fuel on the road.

Leach was suing ICBC, the road contractor, and an unnamed driver of an unidentified vehicle that spilled the substance. She previously worked as a hairstylist and is suing for damages and loss of work. The judge calculated her damages to be approximately $900,000.

“The accident in which the plaintiff was injured was the result of her own negligence in traveling at a speed that was excessive for the road and weather conditions, and I dismiss her claim,” Hinkson said.

He also noted she failed to establish liability against the unidentified owner and operator of the vehicle that was alleged to have spilled the fuel.

There is still a possibility that Leach could appeal the judgment, and Hinkson calculated her damages to total just under $900,000.