BC Supreme Court finds cyclist at-fault in collision

British Columbia’s Supreme Court has found a cyclist entirely at fault in a collision involving a car and a bicycle.
In Ireland v. McKnight, Lionel Ireland, a doctor, was riding his bike home from work on Sept. 4, 2007 when he was involved in a “career-ending” collision with a car being driven by Casey McKnight.
Both vehicles were travelling southbound on a two-lane residential street, with Ireland initially ahead of McKnight’s car.
As McKnight attempted to pass Ireland, the bike collided with the car. Ireland alleged McKnight “was on a collision course,” and “did not slow, did not honk the horn and moved only “slightly” to the left, a “critical error or judgement constituting negligence,” the decision says.
A passenger riding in the car at the time testified that McKnight had moved the car over to the left of the lane about two car lengths back of Ireland as they approached him McKnight had allowed a space of approximately three feet between the car and the bike. She also testified that as they passed the cyclist, he turned his head and looked at the car as it drove by.
A scrape along the rear quarter panel of the car essentially confirms this, the decision says.
“If, as the plaintiff argues, the car was on a collision course with the bike, or failed to adjust sufficiently to avoid a collision course, then I find the right front corner of the car would have struck the bike. The evidence does not support such a finding,” the decision says. “I conclude that the plaintiff moved the bike to the left, concurrently with the turn of head in that direction.”
It went on to say that McKnight passed the driver at a safe distance, “and, on the evidence, that at least three-quarters of the car length had passed the bike before contact occurred.
“In result, I find the defendant driver not liable for the incident.”