Who’s at fault in a crash between a driver trying to beat a yellow light and another driver turning left on a stale yellow?
A Burnaby case in front of the province’s Civil Resolution Tribunal shed some light on that question recently.
Mazen Turk launched a case at the tribunal, seeking $5,000 in pain-and-suffering damages and $682.50 in towing expenses for a crash in the intersection of Griffiths Drive and Southpoint Drive in South Burnaby on Oct. 9, 2020, according to a tribunal ruling Monday.
Turk, who had been driving south on Griffiths, went straight through the intersection and collided with a vehicle turning left in front of him onto Southpoint, the ruling said.
That vehicle was driven by Rahul Karmshil.
Turk claimed Karmshil should be held 100 per cent responsible for the crash for turning left in front of him.
Turk admitted the light had turned yellow before he entered the intersection but said he had determined it was safe to proceed, when Karmshil “suddenly” turned left in front of him.
Karmshil, meanwhile, said Turk should be held 100 per cent responsible for the crash for entering the intersection against the traffic light.
Karmshil said Karmshil had approached the intersection when the light was green and waited in the left turn lane while traffic passed.
When the light turned yellow, southbound traffic in two lanes stopped, and Karmshil started the left turn, according to Karmshil.
Turk was about two to three cars back from the intersection when Karmshil started the turn, and the crash happened when Karmshil had almost completed the turn, according to Karmshil.
A witness, who had been working as a crossing guard at the intersection at the time of the crash, provided a signed statement corroborating Karmshil’s account, according to the ruling.
While Karmshil was completing the left turn, the witness said Turk had entered the intersection and the vehicles collided while the light was red.
Tribunal vice chair Andrea Ritchie concluded the evidence didn’t support the idea that Karmshil had “suddenly” turned in front of Turk, as Turk claimed.
“Here, the evidence is that Mr. Turk approached the intersection on a yellow light, and determined (incorrectly) that it was safe for him to cross the intersection despite the light’s colour,” Ritchie wrote. “In spite of Mr. Turk admittedly noticing vehicles around him slowing to a stop, Mr. Turk did not slow his vehicle for the light. I find Mr. Turk was attempting to ‘beat’ the yellow light, ignoring the fact that traffic around him had stopped.”
Ritchie noted there is generally a “heavy onus” on left-turning drivers, but she concluded that, given the circumstances, Karmshil was “entitled to assume that Mr. Turk would obey the rules of the road.”
“Here, I find Rahul Karmshil appropriately yielded the right of way to oncoming traffic southbound on Griffiths Drive while the light was green, waited for traffic to stop when the light turned yellow, and then safely started their left turn,” Ritchie wrote.
Ritchie also noted that, although Turk claimed damages for injuries, he had not provided any evidence documenting his alleged injuries, their duration or the impact they had had on him.
Turk’s claim was dismissed, and he was ordered to pay Karmshil $25 as reimbursement of tribunal fees.
The CRT is an online, quasi-judicial tribunal that has jurisdiction over most small-claims disputes under $5,000 in B.C.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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