Supreme Court acquittal of B.C. driver sets key precedent: lawyer

The lawyer for a Kamloops, B.C., man acquitted in a dangerous driving case said the ruling handed down Friday by the Supreme Court of Canada has set a precedent for future driving accidents.

The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of Justin Ronald Beatty, who slammed his pick-up truck into a car near Chase, B.C., nearly five years ago, killing three people.

All nine high court justices agreed that a B.C. Court of Appeal decision should be overturned and the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that acquitted Beatty should be restored.

The justices found Beatty was not driving dangerously or erratically before the July 23, 2003, crash.

They say he did not deliberately try to cause the accident, so his "momentary lack of attention" was not enough to convict him of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

The crash occurred 14 kilometres west of Chase, on the highway between Kamloops and Salmon Arm.

Beatty was driving at the posted speed limit but indicated he may have fallen asleep or "lost consciousness," veering across the centre line and hitting a westbound Ford head-on, killing all three people in the car.

Beatty's lawyer, Jamie Ashby, said the case raised the question of whether a momentary lapse of attention could lead to a conviction under the dangerous driving provisions of the Criminal Code.

Fortunately, Ashby said, the Supreme Court has indicated that in the absence of other dangerous driving behaviour, a lapse of attention under normal circumstances is not going to lead to a conviction.