Signs & Signals

Consider the simple traffic sign or signal.  It stands by the side of the highway doing it’s job regardless of the season.  We rely on it to tell us when to stop, how fast to go, which way to turn or whether we can travel in a certain direction as well as many other controlling functions. This is a reliance that we might not consider until we run into trouble because it is lacking.

You are traveling on Cliffe Avenue and going to turn right at 5th Street in Courtenay with the green turning arrow lit.  If there is a car turning left onto 5th Street (which you can only do at certain times of the day) who has the right of way - the person turning right with the green signal light or the person turning left but also with a green light?

Question: Last week on my daily walk, my friend and I were crossing the old Island Highway at the bottom of Bay Street. It looked like we had a lot of time but oddly a younger aggressive driver actually sped up as we were crossing. It was no where a near miss (or hit depending on perspective) but it made me question that there are no crosswalks for close to a kilometre.

Have all wheel drive and four wheel drive pickup new f150. Mud and snow rated tires. Does this truck require chains on all wheels when chain up signs are on. Truck can be switched from two wheel drive to these options. Are chains just needed for the rears?

I need to know how long a yellow traffic light at an intersection should stay yellow for? I realize that the posted speed has to be taken into account and if there are advanced flashing amber lights.

Question: Can you please tell me if there is a standard or exact distance that residential speed signs should have between them? or how many per block there should be? Anything related to these sort of questions.

Mr. Victor Shymanski was charged with disobeying a traffic control device after he drove his commercial vehicle past a regulatory sign requiring him to stop and check his brakes. He was convicted at trial.

A reader from Vancouver asked me where the rules came from for bicycle lanes and signs as they could not be found in the provincial driving manual, Learn to Drive Smart. Included in the e-mail was a link to the City of Vancouver's web site which showed a collection of signs and markings that are now in use on the city streets there. I didn't think that this was going to be a tough question!

Question: I have two questions concerning stopping at the intersections of Vivian Street and Nanaimo Street where they cross 49th Avenue in Vancouver. I'm not sure what to do at both of these intersections and I'm hoping that you will help me understand what I need to do.

My car was recently hit in an intersection, crossing it from east to west. I was crossing with the pedestrian light facing me (there is no traffic light facing me). The other driver, travelling from north to south ran the red light she had and hit me in the intersection.