~ Friday, May 9, 1997 — North Shore News north shore news AU TO The skinny on a road’s lines Shaun Conlin signals FOLLOWING up on jast week’s adventure in crossing the line, sub- mitted for your approval is a bit more information. on road lines and the rules that govern a driver’s ehavior when sur- rounded by them. As mentioned last week, yellow lines painted on the road are used to divide a road- way in half (though not always equally), so said road can be used for. two directions of travel without conflict. Sometimes this line is con- sistently solid. Sometimes it is broken, or “dotted.” Often times it is doubled with vari- ous broken/solid combina- tions. We here in Canada are required to drive on the right side of vellow lines except .. White lines on the road show the road and/or lane edge. Never doubled, they are dotted or solid only. Sometimes there is a noticeable lack of lines oa the road. This lack usuaily occurs on quiet rural roads where paint’ would money. In these cases, cars are required to drive as close to the rieht hand curb as prac cable, thus keeping in’ stride with Canada’s drive on the tight side of the road rule. Itis generally accepted that a solid fine of either colour is not to be crossed, but this is a generalizatic While it is illegal in most to overtake or pass the vehicle(s) in tront of you by crossing, a solid line, it is not Section 157 of the mighty Motor Vehicle Act (MVA} goes to great lengths to explain solid and broken vel- low lines and does mention that when one begins to pass a car in a broken line area one may finish che manoeuvre even if the line has gone solid. Drivers, please note that id lines on the road usually cate a dangerous passing area — blind, busy or such — so finishing your pass quickly yet safely is paramount. Nere also, that solid fine laws are suspended if one is overtaking an “obstruction Curiously, “obstruction” is not defined in the MVA but we generally accept things like stalled cars, roadside repair equipment and parked buses to be obstructions and when one has decided he or she is being obstructed, one still must ascertain thar “the movement can be made with safety and without affecting Park Shore BMW a waste of the travel of any other vehi- cle.” And, as mentioned week, crossing a solid line the purpose of entering of leaving the road is also per: tectly fegal as jong as no oa else is affected or disturbed by this manocuv In many situations dr are tempted to pass a vehicle ght which many This is also a generaliza tion. Section 160° of the mighty MVA describes very fie circumstances in y passing a vehicle on the ie is a grand idea: ifihe front of you has sig- nalled its intention to turn felt, for example; when there is two or more lanes designed for travel in the same direction — which occurs quite fre- quently when you think about it, and even when there is only one lane, but the road is wide enough to easily fit an extra car on the right. All of these opportunities are restricted, however, if “the movement cannot be made safely or by driving the vehicle off the roadway.” A road’s shoulder is defined by a solid white line, if anything, and this area is considered “off the roadway.” Driving on the shoulder is generally consid- ered illegal aithough the same line laws/suspensions can sometimes be applied th Solid white lines also com- monly occur a few metres before a busy intersection, and this is to restrict cars from Passing in or near an interses- tion, which in itse:f is not ile: gal but is very dangerous, There is s Sh going on in an intersection «nd many drivers thereabouts come to rely on the fact thar, last they checked, so and sow and $0 ar and now it + for me to do such and such. — Bang. Something changed because so and so was suddenly some- where else. Folks, if you're going to change lanes at or near an int tion the onus is on you to make sure you're being safe about it and if you're ci ng a solid white line, well, you’re out of line. It is the astute driver who looks well ahead of his or her car, notes potential hazards in an upcoming intersection and deals with said problems well before they're in the thick of it. To sum up the purpose of asolid white line, they tell you hat if you haven't figured out whar lane you want to be in before now, it’s too late, stay where you are. Generally, that’s the skinny on lines. Be sate. LAGK FOR Us 0 oN = Regency Pontiac. Buick. 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