An Osoyoos resident once asked about parking in the downtown area. There was angle parking on both sides of the main street, but the street was marked with a double solid yellow line down the centre. The question was simple: Can a driver cross the double solid yellow line to park on the other side of the street?
The answer requires a little more explanation than simply saying "never cross a solid line." The Motor Vehicle Act contains specific rules about highway lines, and another section provides an exception when a driver is entering or leaving a highway.
What the law says about highway lines
Section 155 of the Motor Vehicle Act requires drivers to remain to the right of certain highway lines. A double solid line is the most restrictive: a driver must drive to the right of the line.
A single solid or broken line has additional exceptions for passing and, in certain circumstances, avoiding an obstruction. Those exceptions do not apply to a double solid line.
There is, however, an important exception in section 156. When a driver is entering or leaving a highway, sections 151 and 155 are suspended while the vehicle is doing so, provided the driver has first determined that the movement can be made safely and does not unreasonably affect the travel of another vehicle.
What does "leaving the highway" mean?
This is where the answer to the parking question becomes less obvious.
The Motor Vehicle Act defines highway much more broadly than just the part of a road where vehicles normally travel. It includes roads and streets used by the general public and also includes certain private places or passageways to which the public has access for parking or servicing vehicles.
It separately defines roadway as the portion of the highway that is improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, excluding the shoulder.
That distinction matters. A driver can leave the roadway without necessarily leaving the highway.
Crossing the centre line to park
Consider the original Osoyoos example. A driver is travelling on one side of the street and wants to enter an angle parking space on the opposite side. The parking space is part of the same highway.
The driver is leaving the traffic lane, but is not leaving the highway. The section 156 exception therefore does not provide permission to cross the double solid yellow line simply to reach that parking space.
In other words, crossing a double solid yellow line to park on the other side of the same highway is not made legal simply because the driver intends to stop and park there.
The practical solution is to use an intersection or other lawful access point to reach the parking space rather than crossing the double solid line.
The bottom line
Parking does not, by itself, give a driver permission to cross a highway line.
If you are crossing a line to reach a parking space that is part of the same highway, you are generally not "leaving the highway" for the purposes of section 156. A double solid line therefore remains in effect.
If the movement takes you from one highway into another highway, driveway or other place that constitutes a separate highway, the section 156 exception may apply. In every case, the movement must be made safely and without unreasonably affecting other traffic.
The safest approach is straightforward: don't cross a solid highway line merely because it is convenient to reach a parking space. Use a lawful entrance, exit or intersection instead.
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Comments
Welcome Osoyoos, as we here in Rossland who do not have a police force stationed here have drivers crossing the double solid line to park and yes even back out and across these double solid lines to go in the other direction. With this situation you have to be real carefull backing out from a parking stall as you may have someone crossing the double solid line to pull into the parking stall to your left. You see the main street of Rossland (Columbia Ave.) is also Highway 3B with a double solid line that covers three blocks through town.
There is two intersections in which u-turns are legal because of a municipal by-law, of which some RCMP officiers are not aware of and have ticketed drivers for illegal u-turns at these intersections. One is at the intersection of the Post Office and the other is at the intesection at City Hall.
Two years ago I talked to the Sgt. in head of the Trail RCMP detachment and because Rossland do not have a police department and there are not many accidents with drivers doin these u-turns it is not a priority to patrol this street or highway. His explaination to me was that, also with legal u-turns at three areas within a four blocks such as the ones I mentioned and another just a short distance off the main street at the court house there was probably less accidents with people crossing the double line illegally than there would be at a busy intersection with traffic approaching from four directions. That might make sense to some, but it is still illegal to cross a double solid line is it not, no matter what the Sgt. said.
Another thing signal lights, what are they, with so many drivers not using them you might think it cost money to power them up.
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When it comes to reversing, there is very little that's specifically illegal under the Motor Vehicle Act, so long as you avoid crosswalks and intersections.
It's all covered under Section 193. But that section is sufficient to pretty much ensure that if you're reversing, and involved in any sort of collision, then it's your fault. An ICBC Claims Adjuster once told me that while 50/50 assignment of blame is rare, this will usually be their judgment when there's an incident where two vehicles in a parking lot back into each other.
That might make sense to some, but it is still illegal to cross a double solid line is it not.
Nope. It is not necessarily illegal. Please read Section 156 (then 151 & 155). Then figure out what is reasonable!
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Crossing Double Solid Lines