Signs & Signals

Kate asks “When your light is green at the intersection ahead but above you the advanced yellow overhead warning lights have begun to flash, should you be preparing to stop for that green light?”

The neighbourhoods where we live are important to us. When we see problems like vehicles speeding past our homes or a volume of traffic that disturbs the peace and quiet we want to act to solve our problem. One of the first things that we demand is for the authorities to put up stop signs.

Question: I have been wondering about pedestrians and pedestrian signals in Vancouver. Long after their signal has turned to 'Don't Walk' - giving motorists a chance to complete a turn - they continue to fill the crosswalks like they had some kind of right of way!

How about an article about the detection loops in the pavement at many traffic lights? Most drivers don't know what they are for and quite often stop too far ahead or behind them.

The University of Vermont Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty has published a report on the efficacy of rectangular rapid flashing pedestrian crossing beacons (RRFB) for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The report reviews previous literature on the effectiveness of the beacons and then applied their own observational research to evaluate the effectiveness of RRFBs in small towns and rural areas.

Believe it or not, in British Columbia a yellow traffic light tells you that you must stop before you enter the intersection! Yes, I know that there is one caveat to that statement, and it is "unless the stop cannot be made in safety." The onus is on the driver that does not stop for the yellow light to show that it was unsafe if they are involved in court proceedings because of their decision.

With all the power outages in the past few weeks there have been a lot of intersections where traffic lights are out. Would you please remind everyone of the 4-way stop procedure that it seems most have forgotten or never learned.

The case of Stevens v Sleeman arises from a fatal collision at the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Nelson Street in Mission. At 5:10 am on October 10, 2016 the traffic lights at the intersection lost power and ceased to function. By 3:08 pm power had not been restored and a collision occurred that claimed the life of Barbara McNally.

I ride a motorcycle and find that some HOV lanes allow motorcycles and some do not. It is frustrating to pass the non-HOV entrance to a roadway only to find that the HOV lane entrance does not permit motorcycles. Can it be changed so that motorcycles are permitted to use all HOV lanes and entrances, in particular that one as I commute over that bridge daily?

Baher Abdulhai is a professor at the University of Toronto and the director if the Toronto Intelligent Transportation Systems Centre and Testbed. One aspect of his work is artificial intelligence (AI) based street and freeway traffic control, traveler information systems, and emergency evacuation optimization.