Intersections

I was sitting at a red light this afternoon watching the approaching traffic. Two vehicles entered the left turn lane on the street to my left, one unremarkable and the other covered in advertising telling me that it was the courtesy vehicle for a well known collision repair company. Both were signaling for the left turn.

What is the purpose of completely coming to a stop at a 3 or 4 way stop when there are no vehicles or pedestrians near the intersection? A rolling stop should be sufficient, as MOST drivers including professional drivers never completely stop. There are at least 3 good reasons for NOT coming to a complete stop. I cannot think of one good reason for coming to a COMPLETE stop.

Chelsea Fisher was driving westbound on 43 Avenue just past 32 Street in Vernon. She was approaching the intersection where traffic for the mall entered onto 43 Avenue in a T intersection to her right. Robert Karol had stopped at the stop sign to exit the mall parking lot and intended to turn left onto 43 Avenue. He proceeded from the stop sign, did not yield to Ms. Fisher and a collision resulted.

This case involves a collision that happened at an intersection where one street is controlled by traffic lights and the cross street by stop signs. Dr. Schlappner stopped at the stop sign, saw that the traffic lights were red and proceeded to cross the intersection. While he was crossing, the traffic signal turned green and a vehicle driven by Mrs. Serfas proceeded and collided with him.

This decision of the B.C. Supreme Court examines the situation where two opposing vehicles approach an uncontrolled intersection. One is turning left (Swartz) and the other is proceeding straight through (Najdychor).