What is the test for determining who is presumed to be at fault in a motor vehicle accident?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Ray v. Bates, 2014 BCSC 878 (CanLII):

The plaintiff, on the other hand, refers to authorities such as Doucet v. Parente, [1988] B.C.J. No. 675 (S.C.), where Justice Gow stated: …Thus a driver is presumptively at fault when, being unable to foresee the surface of the road that lies ahead, he proceeds at a speed which disables him from stopping in time should on that surface he come upon an object which blocks his path of travel; when he travels so closely behind another car that should that other stop he cannot avoid colliding with its rear; when a slippery road surface diminishes the effectiveness of his car's braking capacity and he travels at a speed which on that surface is excessive; when he fails to keep a proper lookout and inform himself of neighbouring traffic; when, knowing that he must take steps to avoid a collision, and, having the opportunity to do so by timely effective braking, he delays effective braking until it is too late and fails to avoid the collision.

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