Are unmarked and unsigned speed bumps a hazard? Yes! Einfeld Law recently was successful in litigating a case, Brown vs. Westbank First Nation et al. The Supreme Court of British Columbia found that there must be proper warning of speed bumps on a public roadway. The party responsible for maintaining that roadway can be held liable in negligence if it does not properly mark and sign speed bumps to warn about dangers posed.
Our client was a bicyclist who unexpectedly encountered a speed bump on a public roadway. She was severely injured when she was apparently unseated from her bicycle. She was found lying unconscious near the speed bump and has no recollection of the accident. Despite no direct evidence as to how she came to be lying on the road, the Judge found that, on the totality of the evidence, the Court could conclude that the speed bump caused the accident. He ruled that such a speed bump can constitute a hazard and there is a duty imposed on those persons responsible for creating the hazard to give adequate warning. This is normally done by painting the speed bump in a contrasting color (e.g. yellow) and putting up a warning sign in close proximity to the speed bump. The Court found that the speed bump that injured Mrs. Brown was not properly painted or signed and therefore the Defendant band was found liable for her injuries.
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