The Right Conclusion In The ATV, Investigation
If there was a suggestion that the Crown Prosecutors Office made a mistake in not laying charges against a police officer involved in the crash of a side by side ATV, the explanation should set the record straight.
The Crown is expected to take an independent view of all evidence before proceeding with charges.
There is a reason for this , by putting an independent body in charge of the final decision, the risk of police head hunting or "going after" someone is removed.
It may not be a perfect system but it works well. In this case it had to be asked, was there enough evidence to get a conviction?
There were a lot of questions raised in the manner in which a police officer attempted to pull over a side by side on Northwood Pulpmill road in Prince George last August. The ATV ended up going off the road.
Evidence by both parties on either side of the matter was not sufficient to suggest that a crime had been committed.
The IIO doesn't recommend if charges are to be laid, that decision lies squarely on the shoulders of Crown Counsel.
In this case, the Crown came to a good conclusion.
I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion.
Comments
Nope. You’re wrong here Ben. A crime was committed as soon as the driver of the UTV decided to drive his UNLICENSED machine on the highway. That attracted the attention of the RCMP as it should have. THEN the guy crashes his machine trying to avoid being caught by the cops. It was this individuals direct action that caused the injury to his friend.
The Crown dropped the ball on this one.
Charges against the police officer..read it again
We all know the UTV driver was to blame, they were trying to blame the cop. If buddy on the UTV got away he would be bragging about it around the campfire for many years to come. The only unfortunate part as far as the UTV driver goes is he got caught and now he wants to blame anyone but himself. I hope ICBC sends him the bill for the damages caused to his friend and the police cruiser!
There is probably a huge civil suit in the works for the friend who was paralyzed right after the incident, I haven’t seen a followup story anywhere on his condition since the accident
“The IIO doesn’t recommend if charges are to be laid, that decision lies squarely on the shoulders of Crown Counsel”
Hmmm, It seems to me that police recommend charges or not, (while forwarding their evidence to back up their recommendations) to crown. The crown then decides whether or not charges will be laid or not.
How many times do we see either an unlicensed ATV/UTV, dirt bike,or sled on our roads? They cross the roads, ride along side the road, ride on private property, there just aren’t any boundaries. There are road restrictions in place for everyone’s safety.
And they are there for a reason. The moment you purchase a vehicle for any purpose you take the risks involved. The accountability lies only in the operator of the UTV in his believing they aren’t made for him.
I agree with Ben’s remarks. And, we should remind ourselves that this investigation dealt only with the Police’s involvement in the issue.
That said, can we not expect charges laid against the ATV pilot operated his contraption in the wrong place? But that is a separate issue – believe it or not!
I wonder what course of action will be taken by the ATV passenger – if any.
Sunnyone, you summarized the problem well. Thank you.
“We all know the UTV driver was to blame, they were trying to blame the cop. If buddy on the UTV got away he would be bragging about it around the campfire for many years to come. The only unfortunate part as far as the UTV driver goes is he got caught and now he wants to blame anyone but himself. I hope ICBC sends him the bill for the damages caused to his friend and the police cruiser!”
NMG nailed it. The only thing I would add is the possibility of impaired charges.
Why do some think the Laws don’t apply to them ? Got some living on my Road , up and down they go in there ATV, there is even a tiny Kids Version .
I actually think that it is legal to ride dirtbikes, atvs, snowmobiles on the roads up in the Hart. How else can we get to the gas stations? At least we don’t jump over roads like they do in the bowl! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QYwjtWpVeg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QYwjtWpVeg
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