Intersections

A topic came up in local Reddit forum today, with an equal split of opinions, both sides being adamant that their approach is correct. When turning left across a median, is it the red line that drivers should take or the blue?

"I almost lost my life at West Fourth and Blenheim in Vancouver this morning" reported a DriveSmartBC Twitter follower. "I was turning left. The traffic lights were red for the traffic on Fourth. I stopped for the stop sign on Blenheim, then moved into the intersection to make my turn. The vehicle approaching me from the opposite direction was speeding and didn't even slow down for the stop sign. She went straight through!"

I wanted to turn left from one angled road onto another angled road.

Two vehicles were stopped at the stop sign.

The first vehicle was turning right and as he did, I prepared to turn left...suddenly I have a cyclist turning left from the same spot as the car; the cyclist was not obvious tucked beside the car. I could have hit the cyclist.

Douglas Heuring was riding his bicycle eastbound on 13 street approaching Grand Boulevard East in North Vancouver, B.C. He stopped for the stop sign about 10 feet back from the marked stop line at the intersection.

I’m hoping to get a clear answer to a question I’ve always had about clearing the intersection on a yellow light. It seems to me that you could easily get a ticket for proceeding yet just as easily get found at fault for not proceeding.

Driving behaviour is a never ending curiosity for me, so when I heard a conversation about the intersection of Haslam and Adshead Roads south of Nanaimo I had to take a look. The gist of the story was that most drivers seemed to treat this Y shaped intersection as being uncontrolled and zoomed through it as if the rest of the world was going to stop for them. The sentiment was expressed that it is only a matter of time before a serious crash occurred there.

William Eller represented the Aspen Road Community's interests in this action against the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure's (MOTI) proposed changes to the Malahat Highway intersection serving their area. The action was taken because the residents felt that the MOTI failed to incorporate their concerns into the improvement project. An injunction was requested to prevent the changes being made until the safest design for the affected area was determined in full consultation with the residents.

This video from the City of Victoria explains how to use bike boxes associated with the city's new protected cycling lanes from a cyclist's point of view. It is worthwhile viewing for drivers as it shows the movements of the cyclist at the intersection. Some movements by the cyclist may be unexpected in terms of what we are used to prior to the advent of the bike box and they are worthwhile encountering here first to avoid confusion on the road.

This case involves the determination of liability for a two vehicle collision in a traffic circle (referred to as a roundabout in the decision) at the intersection of Jervis Street and Nelson Street in Vancouver. At the time there were no yield signs posted making this an uncontrolled intersection and requiring drivers to yield to the right.

Sirens! I'm being overtaken by an ambulance on the way to a call. In order to give way, I signal, move out of the right lane onto the shoulder and stop. Traffic around me seems to be well aware today too as they are doing much the same thing.