Stopping

Thinking back over my years of doing mechanical inspections at the roadside, one of the most common deficiencies in older vehicles was a parking brake that was either seriously out of adjustment or didn't function at all.

Would you believe me if I told you that the positioning of a stop sign at an intersection has nothing to do with where you must stop? Yes, the sign tells you that you must stop, but the markings on the roadway, or lack of them, tell you where the stop has to take place. There are four possibilities for a driver to consider.

I have noticed many drivers stopping at a red light several feet behind the car in front. Having asked my daughters who had recently passed their driving exams about this and both told me that their instructor had told them, even when stopped, they must leave at least one car length distance behind the car in front.

Kate asks “When your light is green at the intersection ahead but above you the advanced yellow overhead warning lights have begun to flash, should you be preparing to stop for that green light?”

We've all seen it and I'll bet that we all talk about them, drivers who race us to the next red light. Here they come, weaving through traffic, going over the speed limit and pass by us just in time to stop for the same red light that we do. These drivers put us all at risk to gain nothing and demonstrate their inability to plan ahead.

The case of Danks v Middelveen arises from a three vehicle collision at the intersection of the Lougheed Highway and Harris Road in Pitt Meadows. A point of interest in the case involves the stopping distance behind other vehicles when everyone is waiting for the traffic lights to change.

This case decides the liability for a collision at the intersection of 184th Street and 40th Avenue in Surrey. Was the collision caused by a driver cutting corners or a driver failing to stop at the stop sign? Madam Justice Forth makes the decision.

Question: A pedestrian was on the sidewalk mid block and an approaching driver stopped to allow the pedestrian to jay walk. The car in the adjacent lane behind this driver stopped abruptly and almost caused a collision because the car following that vehicle was not expecting the stop. Should the second car have stopped or just kept going?

Here's an interesting question from the DriveSmartBC inbox: There is a mid-block pedestrian controlled traffic light in our neighborhood. Drivers frequently stop and then proceed through it if no one is in the crosswalk. Is this legal?

According to the Association of School Transportation Services of British Columbia, travel by school bus is statistically the safest method of ground transportation in Canada and by a substantial margin. We all expect and demand nothing less when our children and grandchildren are riding those buses to and from schools and school related events. Surely all drivers should understand this and not hesitate to stop when the red lights on a stopped bus are flashing.