Driver wins ICBC appeal following firetruck scrape

He got 100 percent off.

More than two years after being found 100 percent liable for a minor collision with a firetruck at a Port Coquitlam intersection, driver Peter Gaggini is now considered zero percent responsible.

Gaggini was heading down Industrial Avenue and getting ready to turn right onto Coast Meridian Avenue when he hit a Stop sign.

Gaggini said he’d come to a complete stop but, due to limited visibility, inched forward at the Stop sign but hadn’t entered the roadway.

At the same time, a firetruck heading north on Coast Meridian turned left and hit Gaggini’s right bumper, resulting in minor damage to both vehicles.

The firetruck driver, who is not named in the decision, stated that Gaggini was about a car length past the stop line at the time of the accident. However, the firetruck driver could not recall if Gaggini was completely stopped at the time of the crash.

ICBC initially concluded the firetruck was dominant and Gaggini was the servient driver.

However, Civil Resolution Tribunal member Maria Montgomery disagreed, ruling there was “no reason” Gaggini should have yielded to the firetruck.

There was also no reason he should have perceived a hazard from the firetruck when the most likely source of a hazard was the oncoming traffic, Montgomery stated.

“I find Mr. Gaggini fulfilled his obligations to drive with due care and attention. I am not satisfied that Mr. Gaggini could have done anything to avoid the accident,” she stated.

The tribunal ordered ICBC to find Gaggini zero percent responsible for the crash. He was also awarded $125 as reimbursement for tribunal fees.

As this was a civil claim, Gaggini had to prove his case on the balance of probabilities.

There was no video footage of the crash nor eyewitness accounts.