Wilder Side of the Law: Negligent for Getting Passed Illegally

Imagine this scenario. You are driving with your family along Highway 2 in Chatham-Kent, on a beautiful early October morning. The plan is to visit a number of businesses and destinations along the way, to get decorations and items for Thanksgiving and the Fall season. If you’re lucky and the kids behave, maybe you can stop at that place that sells those delicious rhubarb custard pies and the chocolate-covered peanut butter balls.
You are in no hurry and traffic is not heavy, along the winding road with many ‘no passing’ areas. As you navigate another turn, you see a vehicle quickly coming up behind you. Within seconds, they are right behind you. The lack of distance between the front of their car and the rear of your car, makes it clear that they want to pass you, but this is a ‘no passing’ area.
Regardless, the car behind you crosses the solid double line (illegally) and changes lanes to pass you. You maintain your speed and the other car slowly passes you, as you head into another curve.
What neither of you see is the oncoming vehicle entering that curve from the opposite way. CRASH.
In a situation like this, you didn’t do anything wrong, right?
Most people would think the answer would yes, there was nothing that you did wrong. You stayed in your lane, were not speeding, and did not know there was a car coming. However, the Courts in Ontario would disagree, as all drivers owe a ‘duty of care’ to other users of the road…even if they are illegally using that road.
In a very recent decision involving a very similar set of circumstances, the Court found that the driver being passed bore some responsibility for the accident. Specifically, they found that had the driver being passed slowed down, the (illegally) passing vehicle would have been able to get back intro their original lane, prior to hitting the oncoming vehicle head-on.
As absurd as this may sound, this is an actual, tragic case. It is also not the only one, as there have been many different ways that a ‘duty of care’ was found to exist and a seemingly innocent driver, following the rules of the road and driving lawfully, was still found to have some responsibility for the accident.
So next time that you are driving and see someone being irresponsible on the road, you might be best-advised to slow down, pull-over, or do whatever it takes to get away from them.