Driving In Canada
Mar 30th 2011 | 9:51 pm
#16
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,782
Re: Driving In Canada
Another thing to note is when at traffic lights you don't stop at the lights themselves but about 10-15yds ahead of them. This has almost caught me out a few times, especially when the stop lines have worn away.
City driving (in Toronto) is complicated by certain time restrictions e.g. no left turn between 7.30 and 6.30 Mon-Fri, especially as the sign telling you this is tiny and across the junction so by the time you can actually read it chances are you have either been beeped at so much you decided not to turn or you've turned anyway!
And the last thing I find is the signage - it's pretty crap! Seems that instead of being given advanced warning of junctions on the highway you are told at the junction itself so then have to cross several lanes to get to the right lane! And when you are driving through the country you really have to know where you are going as signs are very limited. And one-way signs blend in to the surround as do speed restriction signs.
Like others have said, once you get used to it, it's OK. It's not really the driving on the other side of the road that's the issue, it's the other stuff you have to get used to!
City driving (in Toronto) is complicated by certain time restrictions e.g. no left turn between 7.30 and 6.30 Mon-Fri, especially as the sign telling you this is tiny and across the junction so by the time you can actually read it chances are you have either been beeped at so much you decided not to turn or you've turned anyway!
And the last thing I find is the signage - it's pretty crap! Seems that instead of being given advanced warning of junctions on the highway you are told at the junction itself so then have to cross several lanes to get to the right lane! And when you are driving through the country you really have to know where you are going as signs are very limited. And one-way signs blend in to the surround as do speed restriction signs.
Like others have said, once you get used to it, it's OK. It's not really the driving on the other side of the road that's the issue, it's the other stuff you have to get used to!
Last edited by johnh009; Mar 30th 2011 at 10:02 pm.
Mar 31st 2011 | 4:57 am
#17
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 674
Re: Driving In Canada
If I drive on the 401 highway in Ontario (assuming someone will let you onto the highway), I will see people at the wheel reading books, putting on makeup, knitting, fidgeting with kids in the back seat, etc. Having breakfast in the car is almost a prerequisite. Not all at slow speeds either. And they thought cell phones were a problem.
Saw a woman next lane to me doing this in the rush hour traffic on the Manchester ring road this morning, she prob figured she could save half hour in bed doing this
Mar 31st 2011 | 5:19 am
#18
Don't call me MOM!!
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 665
From: Airdrie, Alberta
Re: Driving In Canada
The snow is now melting so OH says I now can't use that "too snowy too drive" excuse anymore. I did drive half way to Banff last month but it was Sunday morning and we only passed one car! He goes up and down Deerfoot every day without a second thought but for me the thought of having to drive on there makes me come over all peculiar, mind I was the same with the M6 
Maybe if we had arrived in the summer months it would have been different. Probably need to leave the kids at home and go out for a bit of a practice.
Maybe if we had arrived in the summer months it would have been different. Probably need to leave the kids at home and go out for a bit of a practice.
Mar 31st 2011 | 7:49 am
#19
Part Time Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,219
From: Worcestershire
Re: Driving In Canada
I believe it is this lack of convention rather than any inherent inability to operate a vehicle on the part of the population that results in such frequent collisions and gobsmacking insurance rates. That said, I'm always relieved when I pass a ditherer on the wrong side and find the ethnicity of the driver I've just passed to be one of those I associate with incompetence at the wheel. "You drive like a Canadian" I shout at those bewildered ditherers as they poke their fingers at me.
I believe it is this lack of convention in addition to any inherent inability to operate a vehicle on the part of the population
Mar 31st 2011 | 8:12 am
#20
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,667
From: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Re: Driving In Canada
Technically, the limit is 62mph. Practically, the traffic goes at 75-80. I routinely drive at 100 and find that one or two other cars will keep up. It's difficult and unsafe to drive at 100 because vehicles will be going at any speed in any lane and so constant lane changes are required. .
Mar 31st 2011 | 8:18 am
#21
Pea Brain
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 6,005
From: TBD
Re: Driving In Canada
Yes, it's shocking to think motorists breaking the law should have to be accountable for their actions. Slow down or stop whining.
Last edited by R I C H; Mar 31st 2011 at 8:21 am.
Mar 31st 2011 | 8:30 am
#22
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,667
From: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Apr 2nd 2011 | 12:21 am
#23
Canuck/Aussie
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 4,547
From: BC, Canada
Re: Driving In Canada
This was in our local paper in the last month. Lady caught driving (and speeding) while reading a book. Just insane if you ask me.
http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3013310
I just want to know what book she was reading as it would have to be really, really good!
http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3013310
I just want to know what book she was reading as it would have to be really, really good!
Apr 2nd 2011 | 3:50 am
#24
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 123
From: Formerly of nr Kinross, Scotland, now Burlington, ON!
Re: Driving In Canada
We did our recce trip in Jan this year ... landed in TO after a 8 hour flight, picked up hire car, and drove to hotel in the dark ... city driving, in the dark, after a plane flight ... and it was my first time in a) a left hand drive car and b) driving on the 'wrong' side of the road and c) an automatic (and a terrible one at that!) OH was having kittens next to me!
Mind you it was not too bad - we survived as did the car! After the week, it was second nature really ... having said that the lack of lane discipline was stunning, and I was far more patient with the middle land drivers stuck on the M6 on my last trip down south!!
But, one thing I never really figured out, was the four way stops with the flashing lights - who goes when?! It all seemed rather hit and miss!!!
2 points we learnt of note - from a fellow ex pat when we were over - parking on residential streets - be aware to park on the correct side of the road and not on snow routes ... and school buses - no passing either way when they are stopped ... and, if I understand correctly - in TO be careful how you park on your drive ... (is it correct you can be fined for incorrect parking or number of cars on the drive?!)
Mind you it was not too bad - we survived as did the car! After the week, it was second nature really ... having said that the lack of lane discipline was stunning, and I was far more patient with the middle land drivers stuck on the M6 on my last trip down south!!
But, one thing I never really figured out, was the four way stops with the flashing lights - who goes when?! It all seemed rather hit and miss!!!
2 points we learnt of note - from a fellow ex pat when we were over - parking on residential streets - be aware to park on the correct side of the road and not on snow routes ... and school buses - no passing either way when they are stopped ... and, if I understand correctly - in TO be careful how you park on your drive ... (is it correct you can be fined for incorrect parking or number of cars on the drive?!)
Apr 2nd 2011 | 11:48 pm
#25
Thread Starter
Just Joined
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 16
Re: Driving In Canada
So it seems that driving in Canada is in itself an adventure! 
