Here with another rant about drivers in the city. If everyone just followed the simple, fundamental rules of driving that you were taught (assuming that you were in fact, taught how to drive) everything would be much better. Don’t stop at a green light to let a pedestrian cross when they don’t have a walk signal, don’t go from travelling 50 km/h to a complete stop to let someone out who is trying to make a left turn onto a busy road, don’t yield where you are suppose to merge, don’t merge where you are suppose to yield. Take the right of way when you have it and don’t try to be nice to others when it defies the rules of the road. The less confusion created on the road and the more basic rules are followed, we are all better off. Thank you.
Rant by John
February 22nd, 2012 at 9:12 pm
I’d add to that, learn how lanes work. Particularly with regards to turning at intersections. The nearest most lane you are turning into: that’s yours. Any other lane: not yours.
With two lanes going, a left-turning driver and an oncoming right-turning driver should both be able to execute their turns at the same time, arriving side by side.
If you want another lane, get to your lane first, continue driving, indicate, and when it is safe to do so merge into the indicated lane.
It’s how lanes work, and virtually no one here understands it.
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February 25th, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Right on Darcy, I’ve had people lay on the horn for daring to turn right into the curb lane while they had the left turn arrow coming the opposite way. They honestly believed that I had somehow violated their right of way. I’ve even seen the cops do it. Makes you wonder if people took their road test in a dory.
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February 26th, 2012 at 10:46 am
“So True” You fail your road test for doing that, The infraction is called “Assuming the Right of way” and is very dangerous, Always wait for two available lanes when turning right unless you have a merge sign or your own dedicated lane to merge. Be careful out there
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February 27th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
I’m not sure why people have downvoted you, Trevor, because you are 100% correct. Assuming the right of way is a 50 point deduction on your road test, which is an auto-fail.
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February 27th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Probably because of this (again, from the Highway Traffic Act):
” (iii) “right-of-way” means the privilege of the immediate use of the roadway;
(jjj) “roadway” means the portion of a highway that is improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, but does not include the shoulder unless the shoulder is paved, and where a highway includes 2 or more separate roadways the term “roadway” refers to any 1 roadway separately and not to all of the roadways collectively;”
Trevor?
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February 26th, 2012 at 9:56 am
remember, right of way is given, not taken.
with regards to turning right at a yield or stop sign; if another driver is executing a left turn with either a green arrow or light, you are obliged to wait for them to finish their turn before you proceed through the sign. although there are 2 lanes and 2 cars, the rule is in place to remove the opportunity for someone to make a mistake.
If you pull out at the same time as another driver and they have a green arrow or light, they have every right to give a little honk.
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February 26th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Trevor and Actually,
There is nothing in the Road Guide to support what you ware saying.
So long as the right turning driver and the oncoming left turning driver each have their own corresponding lane (as opposed to sharing the lane, which is not what we’re discussing here), neither of the two must yield to the other. There’s no reason to do so.
The Road Guide explicitly states that you cannot change lanes within an intersection. Therefor there is no reason why either of the above drivers should ever have to yield to the other. Unless one of the drivers decided to break the rules.
But I’m unfamiliar with any rules of the road that are in place to mitigate circumstances where someone else might decide to break the rules. That would make for an incredibly complicated and confusing set of rules.
It seems like a lot of people treat the rules of the road like the rules of Monopoly. Everyone has their own version of the rules that suits them, and if it’s their board/car, they go by their rules.
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February 26th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
With all due respect Darcy, you are not a driving instructor. “Actually” and I both are with Young Drivers of Canada. Its our job to know everything that is right and wrong on the road, even things that are not in the road users guide, such as this sign: (follow link below)
However just because its not in the users guide don’t mean there is not a rule to be followed, or that you can make up your own rules as you have done so here. I can tell you for a fact that students fail their road test for doing the very thing you are telling people to do. Its dangerous and you should not be telling people its ok to do.
Unfortunately its a lack of provided information that has brought you to your incorrect conclusions, and this lack of information is one of the major reasons for the poor drivers we have on the roads today.
Its not your fault that you don’t know, but you need to take it from two people who know the difference… Please do not tell people to do this anymore. If anything now that you know the difference, tell them the correct action to take, wait for two available lanes.
My colleague said he is going to look up the rule in the highway traffic act, I hope he do, but I also hope you would listen to a driving instructor about a rule of the road.
Drive safe bud :)
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=merge+sign&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=475&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=V2WtYb1S9hywSM:&imgrefurl=http://ninmoore.blogspot.com/&docid=NGIxudvs5_g4zM&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ffmC2KPXzJQ/TM9At8P64OI/AAAAAAAABys/QSFE5gb4HBQ/s1600/merge.gif&w=468&h=649&ei=Bb5KT8e_L8fk0QHawb2PDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=94&vpy=108&dur=4913&hovh=115&hovw=83&tx=88&ty=281&sig=101112806620291686626&page=1&tbnh=115&tbnw=83&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0
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February 27th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Very well.
From the Highway Traffic Act:
“Turn at intersection
115. (1) A driver intending to turn right at an intersection shall approach the intersection and make the turn as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.
(2) A driver intending to turn left from a two-way highway into another two-way highway shall make the turn
(a) by driving to the right of, and as closely as practicable to, the centre line of the highway while approaching the intersection and turning; and
(b) upon leaving the intersection, by driving to the right of, and as closely as practicable to, the centre line of the highway then entered.
(3) Where more than 1 lane of a roadway has been designated as a left or right turn lane, the driver intending to turn left or right into an intersecting roadway shall approach the intersection in 1 of those lanes and leave the intersection in the lane of the intersecting roadway that corresponds to the lane from which the turn was started.”
Subsection 3 is interesting, since it states explicitly that a driver must arrive in the lane corresponding to the one they departed from. That being the case, why then should another driver with their own corresponding lane have to yield to the above driver who can’t, by law, enter into that lane?
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February 27th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
I’d like to add that I took driving lessons from a private registered instructor, and he taught the procedure that Darcy supports. (I also passed my driver’s test over 10 years ago without losing points, and have never gotten a ticket for any reason.)
I’d hate to think that YD is incorrectly instructing their students, but based on the ‘skills’ of most drivers in this city, it really wouldn’t surprise me.
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February 27th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Yeah, I took my lessons from the Newfoundland and Labrador Safety Council nearly 15 years ago and what I’m discussing here is what I remember being taught by them at the time.
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February 27th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
I know from personal experience that the driving test instructors will fail you for “assuming the right of way” in the situations that were previously discussed.
It happened to me 10 years ago on my first road test. I was taking a right turn from Old Placentia onto Ruth Avenue. A Mt Pearl city council truck was turning left from Old Placentia onto Ruth at the same time. Even though the truck did stay in the lane closest to the center median and I stayed in the right most lane I was still docked for “assuming the right of way” and auto-failed.
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February 27th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
That’s because you had a yield sign. Not what we’re discussing here.
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February 27th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Let’s paint training lines on the intersections. Oh, wait we do got training lines at Thorborn Rd. and the parkway. Topsail @ Columbus is the worst maybe Training lines. the link supplied by YD seems to be not from here. Who’s rules do they teach? YD goes by their textbook, not by the Nfld. Traffic Act
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February 27th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Darcy your last post showed me that its all a misunderstanding, This whole time i thought you were talking about you having a yield sign because in your first post you said “With two lanes going, a left-turning driver and an oncoming right-turning driver should both be able to execute their turns at the same time, arriving side by side”
So i interpreted it as there was already two lanes and you are turning right at a yield, this whole time you must of been talking about a merge, and in that case your completely correct, I thought you were going to blast through a yield sign when there was turning traffic coming
So basically turning right at a yield, you yield to any traffic both turning from straight ahead and coming across and wait for two available lanes
Turning right at a merge you keep your car moving and do what Darcy said but you should try to avoid merging side by side, always try and have space on the side of your car as much as possible,
Sorry Darcy I think we both should of said what kind of sign we were talking about lol :)
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February 27th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
To be honest, I don’t really get why you’d assume the presence of a yield sign, or why I should have had to specify the lack thereof.
Either way, I’m glad we’ve finally come to an understanding about the matter.
Now if only the rest of the drivers in this city could join us.
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February 28th, 2012 at 8:00 am
I’m not the only one here who did
specifying would of saved a boat load of confusion and about 16 posts lol
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