What is the standard of care of a driver who passes on the right when it is prohibited to do so?

Defendant’s counsel argues that the plaintiff breached the standard of care by passing on the right when it was prohibited to do so. None of the exceptions in s. 158 apply. The semi-tractor was not signalling an intention to turn left. Even if the semi-tractor was signalling, passing on the right was still prohibited and negligent because it could not be done safely. There was not a clear lane ahead, because the traffic lined up, if it obeyed the painted island, would have to move to the right. Further, any of the vehicles lined up in the lane could have at any time moved to the right within the lane, for example to turn into the plaza. The plaintiff could not see in front of the semi-tractor and passed blindly on the semi-tractor’s right. The plaintiff’s email communication complaining of traffic shows that he was aware of the risk of people making turns across traffic. There is a high onus on a party passing on the right to show that the movement can be done safely: Lane v. Wahl, 2015 BCSC 1779 at paras. 25-26, aff’d 2017 BCCA 450. If the plaintiff had not been passing on the right, the accident would not have occurred.