What is the test for a motorcyclist who claims that the driver in front of her vehicle failed to signal her intention to turn and, therefore, caused him to drive into her vehicle?

In Janzen v. Heather, 2008 BCSC 229, a moped operator claimed that the driver in front of him came to a stop, failed to signal her intention to turn and, therefore, caused him to drive into the rear of her vehicle. Rogers J. made this comment about that position: 33. The plaintiff’s responsibility for the collision is obvious. He was travelling too closely behind the defendant, and he was not paying sufficient attention to what the defendant was doing. On his own evidence, and accepting for the moment that the defendant did not apply her turn signal, the plaintiff was aware that some change was happening with the defendant’s course of travel. He appreciated that she was slowing down. He said that he was prepared to stop if she stopped. In fact, the defendant’s car did effectively come to a stop relative to the plaintiff’s path of travel. Her right turn brought her car across his pathway and formed a barrier to his progress. I find that the plaintiff was following so closely behind the defendant’s car that he could not have stopped behind the defendant. In fact, he was so close behind the defendant that if she had stopped without turning, he would have come abreast of her car before he, too, braked to a halt. 35. The key issue in this case is whether the defendant had a duty to perceive that the plaintiff was behind her and was so close to the rear of her vehicle that she could not make her turn without jeopardizing his safety. 40. ...Whether the defendant applied her turn signal or not, it was the plaintiff’s duty to stay far enough back from the defendant’s car to respond safely to whatever the defendant did. The defendant did not owe a duty to the plaintiff to yield or give way to him. The fact that the defendant did not see the plaintiff does not, therefore, give rise to a breach of a duty of care. The plaintiff was solely responsible for the collision.