General Road and Highway Discussion

[ijmorlan]

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*RANT START*

I was waiting to turn left onto Nottingham this evening and had 4 or 5 cars stop in the left oncoming lane to wave me through, all the while traffic continuing at full speed in the right hand lane. Follow the rules of the road, people! If there is room for you to continue, continue. If you can't clear the intersection due to traffic being stopped ahead, stop clear of the intersection. Never, ever, wave someone through against the rules of the road. You're slowing everyone down by doing that and creating a significant hazard in the process. It's not polite to direct someone into oncoming traffic.

*END RANT*

As a cyclist, this drives me INSANE.  How many cyclists have been hit in these situations and then been blamed.

All too true. I would however point out that this behaviour points towards an opportunity. In places where there is only a single lane of traffic, vehicle drivers can usefully yield to active transportation, and many want to do so and will do so (as shown by the fact that they do so even when and where it is unhelpful).

So if some of our too-wide roads are strategically rebuilt as two-lane roads with a median, they will become much easier for pedestrians and cyclists to cross. I long believe that King St. at the tracks was a perfect example: given how many people attempted to yield to me when it was 4 lanes, even though it was not helpful, how well would it have worked if there were 2 lanes separated by a median? Of course now we have a signal, but in some ways that is not as good because it doesn’t allow people to go when there is no conflicting traffic.

But yeah. If it’s not helpful and safe to yield, please don’t.