Railroad crossing accidents

[jiml]

Many people (in my experience) don't know that you can also turn left on red, provided you are turning onto a one-way street.

That is illegal here and a friend of mine got the ticket to prove it.

 

[SarahZ]

That is illegal here and a friend of mine got the ticket to prove it.

True. Best to check provincial/state traffic laws.

 

[TrackWalker]

"In Ontario, you have a right to turn left on a red – but only if you're turning from a one-way onto another one-way. If police catch you turning from a one-way onto a two-way, you'll be charged with running a red light. "

 

[jiml]

"In Ontario, you have a right to turn left on a red – but only if you're turning from a one-way onto another one-way. If police catch you turning from a one-way onto a two-way, you'll be charged with running a red light. "

Yes, this is where my friend discovered the fine print. He was turning left from a two-way street onto a one-way, so the opposite of your example, but with the same end result. He went to court asking where the opposite direction traffic going to come from on the street he was turning from. He lost.

 

[SarahZ]

"In Ontario, you have a right to turn left on a red – but only if you're turning from a one-way onto another one-way. If police catch you turning from a one-way onto a two-way, you'll be charged with running a red light. "

Oh gosh, yes. You can't turn left on red onto a two-way here either. You can turn left onto a one-way from a one-way OR two-way street, though.

As for a right on red, that can be done from a one-way or two-way onto a one-way or two-way, provided there isn't a "No Turn on Red" sign.

 

[WWW]

Yeah although they drive among us - - - - -

Further note - you MUST be in the curb lane to make these right or left turns - Curb to Curb - NOT out in the center lane.
Sheesh making a left hand turn from the right lane - what cereal box did you get your license out of ?
The curb lanes may still have straight thru traffic and not a forced turn - it is illegal to go around thru traffic -OR- a stopped Bus !
And you need a good solid book thrown at you to read in jail if it is a School Bus AND STOP ARM EXTENDED !
Patience and BEWARE of any pedestrian traffic !

 

[Bob Dylan]

Oh gosh, yes. You can't turn left on red onto a two-way here either. You can turn left onto a one-way from a one-way OR two-way street, though.

As for a right on red, that can be done from a one-way or two-way onto a one-way or two-way, provided there isn't a "No Turn on Red" sign.

Same here in Austin. Texas has a patchwork of Traffic Laws,with most decided Locally, but a few are Federal Laws such as No Two Way Access Roads for Interstate Highways!

 

[SarahZ]

Yeah although they drive among us - - - - -

Further note - you MUST be in the curb lane to make these right or left turns - Curb to Curb - NOT out in the center lane.
Sheesh making a left hand turn from the right lane - what cereal box did you get your license out of ?
The curb lanes may still have straight thru traffic and not a forced turn - it is illegal to go around thru traffic -OR- a stopped Bus !
And you need a good solid book thrown at you to read in jail if it is a School Bus AND STOP ARM EXTENDED !

I seriously hope you aren’t addressing me.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Roundabouts are the Devil's handiwork. They're becoming more prevalent here due to their cheapness vs. a proper intersection. Their use is not covered in driver training and the dual-lane ones are accidents in waiting.

You mean driver training today or back when you were learning? Every option has its own issues. The problem with spaghetti flyovers is that they are expensive and require a large footprint. The problem with intersections is that they do not scale smoothly and are inefficient. The problem with roundabouts is that North American drivers are unfamiliar with them and our versions do not always follow the free flowing traffic model which impedes the primary benefit.

Have you driven in Mexico City with the Gloriettas( Multi Lane Traffic Circles) and the Topes?( Speed Bumps to slow the Grand Prix Drivers! ) Sort of like Chevy Chase in London in "European Vacation" at Twice the Speed!

I have no interest with driving in Mexico city but I have seen the European Vacation scene and had a laugh.

It's really not so bad once you've done it a couple times. It prevents left turn congestion at busy intersections. You mostly see them in the larger cities.

Any congestion benefit is a myth where I live. I believe Texas calls these "super roads" or some such. If they're intended to be safer then perhaps we should include the road rage they promote as drivers realize they will now sit through up to three lights instead of one to make the same trip. Our version was built after drunk teenagers kept crashing into each other in the middle of the night and rather than put more cops out at 2AM we screwed up traffic for everyone for decades to come. How bad is it? Bad enough I simply ignore that part of town in order to avoid it.

 

[Chris I]

Yeah although they drive among us - - - - -

Further note - you MUST be in the curb lane to make these right or left turns - Curb to Curb - NOT out in the center lane.
Sheesh making a left hand turn from the right lane - what cereal box did you get your license out of ?
The curb lanes may still have straight thru traffic and not a forced turn - it is illegal to go around thru traffic -OR- a stopped Bus !
And you need a good solid book thrown at you to read in jail if it is a School Bus AND STOP ARM EXTENDED !
Patience and BEWARE of any pedestrian traffic !

Free right on red, in practice, ends up being really dangerous for pedestrians. Drivers become used to turning right on red, and will only look left before rolling on through. So it is actually quite common to be walking through a crosswalk with the signal, to have someone fly through as you reach the end of the crossing.

Free right on red should be banned in all cities.

 

[WWW]

Drivers become used to turning right on red, and will only look left before rolling on through.

Yeah that rolling on through is a ROLLING STOP not a complete STOP before proceeding !

There are three aspects to the Right Turn on Red -
reduces traffic congestion and keeps some busy traffic flowing
restricted where there is high pedestrian traffic i.e. downtown corners
and at school crossings for obvious safety concerns

Then there is the pedestrian violator - when the DON"T WALK sign is lit they run like hell endangering themselves
and the turning vehicle making a less safe turn in a wider arc or curb hopping move.

It is not only senior drivers needing that 55 drive classes offered to reduce insurance rates ! NO LOL matter !

 

[NS VIA Fan]

On Prince Edward Island where they don't even have a freeway.....there's now 'Displaced Left Turns' and the DOT has had put out videos on how to navigate them!

 

[jiml]

Drivers become used to turning right on red, and will only look left before rolling on through.

Yeah that rolling on through is a ROLLING STOP not a complete STOP before proceeding !

In Ontario that's referred to as a $325 rolling stop.

 

[Qapla]

Free right on red, in practice, ends up being really dangerous for pedestrians. Drivers become used to turning right on red, and will only look left before rolling on through. So it is actually quite common to be walking through a crosswalk with the signal, to have someone fly through as you reach the end of the crossing.

Free right on red should be banned in all cities.

I disagree...

I live in a college town where pedestrian and vehicle traffic interactions are prime concerns and in the news quite often. Of the many problems talked about to improve safety turning right on red has never been proposed as something to be eliminated. On the intersections where it would be hazardous there are signs prohibiting right-on-red.

To blanketly eliminate them slows traffic, blames only the car drivers and encourages pedestrians to ignore the crossing signals.

 

[Eric S]

Free right on red, in practice, ends up being really dangerous for pedestrians. Drivers become used to turning right on red, and will only look left before rolling on through. So it is actually quite common to be walking through a crosswalk with the signal, to have someone fly through as you reach the end of the crossing.

Free right on red should be banned in all cities.

Completely agree. Right on red prioritizes motorist convenience over pedestrian safety. It should have no place in an urban environment.

 

[me_little_me]

I disagree...

I live in a college town where pedestrian and vehicle traffic interactions are prime concerns and in the news quite often. Of the many problems talked about to improve safety turning right on red has never been proposed as something to be eliminated. On the intersections where it would be hazardous there are signs prohibiting right-on-red.

To blanketly eliminate them slows traffic, blames only the car drivers and encourages pedestrians to ignore the crossing signals.

And often, pedestrians pressing the buttons are not given priority in that the buttons may be disabled (as some are in my community) or they cause one to wait as long as the cross traffic. It's one thing to have a long wait in cross traffic in your heated/cooled car and another to be a pedestrian in bad, cold or hot weather. Unless it is an intersection where there are constant pedestrians, pressing the button should immediately cause the street one is crossing to turn yellow unless someone had activated the button for the other street. In that case, their countdown should begin.

 

[joelkfla]

And often, pedestrians pressing the buttons are not given priority in that the buttons may be disabled (as some are in my community) or they cause one to wait as long as the cross traffic. It's one thing to have a long wait in cross traffic in your heated/cooled car and another to be a pedestrian in bad, cold or hot weather. Unless it is an intersection where there are constant pedestrians, pressing the button should immediately cause the street one is crossing to turn yellow unless someone had activated the button for the other street. In that case, their countdown should begin.

I believe most major cities by now have traffic signals synchronized to maximize flow on the major street. Turning them red at random times could cause quite a mess.

In most cases, the pedestrian button does one or both of 2 things:

• Causes the light to change at the next scheduled interval, at intersections where the inferior roadway only gets a green if traffic is detected, and
• Lengthens the green interval to allow sufficient time for most pedestrians to complete crossing.

 

[MARC Rider]

Gosh, I have enough trouble with driving on the wrong side of the road and lack of roundabouts over there, don't confuse me even more!

Oh, we have lots of roundabouts in Maryland, but I guess they would be going in the opposite direction compared to yours, so they'd still be confusing to a British driver.

 

[caravanman]

No, roundabouts are fine, and one gets used to driving on the other side. I towed my caravan through France, driving on the other side of the road, with my UK car steering wheel!

 

[MARC Rider]

Roundabouts are the Devil's handiwork. They're becoming more prevalent here due to their cheapness vs. a proper intersection. Their use is not covered in driver training and the dual-lane ones are accidents in waiting.

Not always true. We had a notorious 5-way intersection in Towson, Maryland (just north of Baltimore.) It took forever to get through it because of traffic being held up by people making left turns and such. Plus the ridiculously long red-light cycle times typical of Maryland. They replaced it in the 1990s with a roundabout, and things are so much better. True, traffic backs up on the approaches during busy periods because you have to yield to traffic in the circle, but you never have to wait as long as you did when it was just an intersection with traffic lights.

 

[MARC Rider]

I believe most major cities by now have traffic signals synchronized to maximize flow on the major street. Turning them red at random times could cause quite a mess.

Actually, de-synchronizing lights on the main streets in cities might be a good idea. Nowadays, those streets are basically managed as "automobile sewers" to the detriment of all other street users. If the traffic gets snarled up, that might discourage people from driving and encourage city designs that are walkable and more at a human scale.

 

[Barb Stout]

Not always true. We had a notorious 5-way intersection in Towson, Maryland (just north of Baltimore.) It took forever to get through it because of traffic being held up by people making left turns and such. Plus the ridiculously long red-light cycle times typical of Maryland. They replaced it in the 1990s with a roundabout, and things are so much better. True, traffic backs up on the approaches during busy periods because you have to yield to traffic in the circle, but you never have to wait as long as you did when it was just an intersection with traffic lights.

Roundabouts sound perfect for 5-way intersections. What gives me a heart attack is where there are 2 roundabouts right next to each other with double lanes. Yikes!

 

[Qapla]

How about a roundabout with a train wye stitch in the middle of it ... talk about crazy