Intersections

Question: Big trucks are allowed by law to swing wide if necessary in order to make a wide right turn at an intersection. If you don't heed the signal and pull along side you could be squeezed between the truck and the curb.

This is the story of a two vehicle collision that happened in the uncontrolled intersection of Jervis Street and Gordon Avenue in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Michelle Olchowy was travelling south on Jervis Street and Clifford Tomkulak was travelling east on Gordon Avenue. Ms. Olchowy entered the intersection within a second or fraction of a second of Mr. Tomkulak.

William Vance was riding an unlicenced, uninsured off road motorcycle southbound on 198 Street in Langley, B.C. He was not wearing a helmet and was exceeding the speed limit. Cristine Cartwright was eastbound on 21 Avenue and had stopped at the stop sign before entering 198 Street intending to turn northbound. Vision was limited for drivers on 21 avenue looking northbound by roadside vegetation.

This excellent video by Young Drivers of Canada explains the philosophy of the stop sign. If you approach thinking "stop", you are more apt to grant the required right of way to other road users. If you approach intending to slow down just enough to avoid a ticket, you are thinking "go" and will be less likely to take the necessary action, stopping, if you are required to grant right of way to others.

Would you write something in one of your articles about people turning at intersections and immediately going into the right lane and cutting off other motorist merging into traffic? This is one of my biggest pet peeves in the traffic world. I have seen and experience where to person who is merging is getting the horn and finger wave even though they were in the right.

Question: At a 4 way stop, what are the rules for yielding if I am turning left and there are pedestrians about to cross and there is also another car that has stopped to my right at the same time?

Road users, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, have a duty to take reasonable care for themselves and others. If they do not follow the traffic rules they assume a heightened duty of care according to the courts. In this case both the driver and the cyclist involved failed to do so and collided with each other.

Have you ever met or been overtaken by an emergency vehicle with lights flashing and sirens wailing when you were navigating a roundabout? What to do? Well, a roundabout is just another type of intersection, so you must immediately move out of it, stop and remain stopped until the emergency vehicle or vehicles pass by.

The case of Chang v Alcuaz examines an intersection collision where the drivers approached each other at right angles. Both claim that they were facing a green light when they proceeded into the intersection. It is interesting to see how the judge determines which driver had actually faced a green traffic signal.