Bren Carrier- Supreme Court of Canada decision

[charlie fitton]

Originally Posted by rob love

Ice is bad on a carrier, but for a real thrill try cobblestone or brick roadway. That will sober you up quickly.

or a slight dusting of sand on asphalt..

[maple_leaf_eh]

Interesting geography and road maintenance lesson in this case. The Private was doing a road test on Hwy 17 East of Ottawa between Cumberland and what was once LETE in Orleans. How many times have I driven that road? The cleared path was 24 to 26' wide, which is quite narrow by today's standards. (I think a driving lane is only about 10' wide.) The road was cleared, but with light accumulation and somewhat idcy. Seems reasonable for the results of WW2 highway vehicles which used flat plows, scraper boards and rollers versus highspeed plows and chemical deicers and salt.

[Robert Bergeron]

Hi Terry,

Wasn't that facility ( LETE ) taken over by the RCMP ( Royal Canadian Mounted Police for our foreign friends ) ?

Those were sure the days. Going on a track test on Highway 17 !

[RichardT10829]

Carrier driver negotiated the bend to quick...upon losing the grip he became a passenger in his own vehicle... ambulance driver was also negligent as he should also have been driving to the conditions, had he done so he would have been able to safely react and stop in time to avoid the already crashed carrier.

Summary : army cough up please

Ambulance: training/disciplinary for the driver

[rob love]

Not sure you can say that about the ambulance driver without being there for the collision. As the court noted, a driver is entitled to his half of the roadway. So safe distance does not come into play.

If he was following the carrier, then yes, he has a portion of fault. But when someone skids into your lane of travel, there is not really a speed that you could pre-adjust to unless you were going to stop for all oncoming traffic. Even then people could skid into you. The court had it right: carrier driver was driving too fast for road conditions. The proof? He lost control.

Unbelievable that something like this could make it into the supreme court. As noted previously, the crown would seem to have some self serving interests in this. Even back then, the lawyers bills must surely have come out to more than the less than $500 that the judgement was for. In this day and age, a supreme court hearing will cost you way more than your house is worth.

[Robert Bergeron]

Good comments on Carrier driving and i am taking good note as a i am a new Carrier driver .

Claims against the Crown are my core business today and if i had been handling this one i would of recommended a prompt if not swift payment war on or not.

Had anybody ever heard of a Court case involving a Carrier accident with a civilian car anywere in the world ?