Is a statutory right of way an absolute right?

However the case law shows that the statutory right of way granted under this section of the Act is certainly not an absolute right. Mr. Justice Melnick clearly stated the principle in paragraph 14 of his decision in Erickson v. Erickson, [1994] B.C.J. No. 1485 as follows: “. . . one cannot wear a statutory right-of-way like an invisible suit of armor. Having a statutory right-of-way does not give a driver an absolute right to enter an intersection without taking reasonable care not to endanger vehicles approaching from his or her left.”

The principle stated is consistent with what MacDonald C.J.B.C. held in Lloyd v. Hanafin (1931), 43 B.C. 401 at p. 402: “The vehicle coming from the right has by statue or by-law the right of way, but where the other vehicle has reached the intersecting street substantially ahead of the one having the right of way he is not obliged to wait upon the other if the way appears to be clear.”