British Columbia
Cycling Coalition
last modified July 3, 2003
I Shot the Sherfiff but I did not Shoot the Deputy
Cycling and the Law - Article #3
by David Hay
In my last article I addressed the difference between statute law (legislation) and judge made law (i.e. the common
law). Here is an illustration of how this works.
Joe Sunday, our man of leisure, had not been on his bike for years. He loved to drive into work in his spacious
utility vehicle. It gave him time alone. He was ill prepared for the transit strike but he also made adaptation
to any circumstance a point of pride. So without misgiving he dug his wife's bicycle out of the garage and adjusted
the seat in preparation for combat.
Joe never really understood why it became illegal in many jurisdictions to ride on the sidewalk. After all, he
didn't even think small vehicles had a place on the road, let alone bicycles. So when he tucked his pant legs into
his socks that morning, he had no intention of riding to work on the road and endangering his life, but looked
forward to the tranquillity of the sidewalk.
Five minutes into his ride and everything was going well. Starbuck's in his right hand, left hand covering the
front brake, he felt a new sense of exhilaration.
A vehicle came up from behind him, travelling very fast, and reminded him why he rode on the sidewalk. The vehicle
sped past him and cranked a hard right turn into an alleyway directly in front of him. He hit his front brake and
catapulted into the side of the vehicle.
Joe Sunday's next memory was the smell of alcohol. He stared up at his assailant, who had the unmitigated audacity
to ask, "don't you know it's illegal to ride on a sidewalk?", whereupon Joe Sunday passed out.
Despite Joe Sunday being in clear violation of a by law prohibiting riding on a sidewalk, that breach is not determinative
of his rights to pursue the wrongdoer in negligence. It may be in any given case that the wrongdoer can say, in
reply to an allegation of negligence, that he could not have known a cyclist would be on the sidewalk. That is
to say, it was not foreseeable that someone would be breaking the law. However, in our case the drunk driver had
later told the police that he could not even remember making a right turn and was not even aware there was a sidewalk
in the area. On these facts, Joe Sunday's breach of the by law would, strictly speaking, not be relevant. His shooting
the sheriff did not contribute to the death of the deputy.
David Hay is a litigation lawyer and partner at Richards Buell Sutton LLP. RBS is a full-service law firm in Vancouver delivering legal advice and solutions in all areas of practice. The information above is not legal advice. Anyone seeking legal advice should contact David directly.
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