Leasa Berg lives on a busy street in Douglasdale and follows the same routine every time she drives into her garage.
She says she puts on her left turn signal half a block from the house, slows down and turns into her driveway.
A month ago, as she was doing just that, she says a car behind her passed on the left and they collided.
She assumed the other driver would pay for the damages but was shocked her insurance company said she was 75 per cent at fault.
“I don’t want any responsibility,” Berg said. “The car was behind me and hit me. They should see what I’m doing and they told me it was up to me to see what was happening behind me, that I should ensure nobody was passing me.”
Intact Insurance says the ruling is based on previous case law and the Traffic Safety Act. The company issued this statement:
“While we do believe that Ms. Berg signaled her intention to turn left into the driveway, the onus still remains on the driver changing direction (in this case, turning left) to ensure that it is safe to do so.”
But Calgary Police Traffic Re-construction Sgt. Colin Foster said that’s not a hard and fast rule and is a shared responsibility.
“It’s section 22.1 of the Rules of the Road Regulations, which says that those opportunities when you do have a vehicle turning left and you’re behind them, you pass that vehicle on the right. From an enforcement point of view we’d more than likely look towards the vehicle that’s making the passing maneuver as opposed to the one that’s making the turning maneuver.”
Berg said her insurance premium went up after the claim and she switched insurance companies as a result.