VE met quite a few

. travellers this summer and it’s become appar- ent that British Columbia is not only renowned for it’s scenic beauty and bonehead drivers. We here in this fair province have a rel-

. atively rare road arrangement known as

_ the “uncontrolled

tis: ‘something most . -Jocals have always taken for _. granted; having been born d/or raised here, but it’s surprise that many dri caught off guard

fhe ae encumbrance a

igns telling drivers, what they

fmay Not do. » There are; however, laws , and while ‘righe Of way,rules “should be obvious to some-:. : one ‘trained to drive in B.C.,

is nota good thing. cally, when two or. - t at any angl

and Tack’ any sort’ of regulato- Ty, stop or yield: signs, the « row of convergence is

own as an uncontrolled. . intefséction. The rule’drivers are to follow: ‘when approach- ing th intersections,

are ive way to any vehicle that ‘the right; or approach-

ing from the right. The car on the right has the right-of- way. Right?

“But be aware that right- of-way has to be giver: before one can take it. When you’re in the car on the right never assume that any driver on the left: 2) can see vehicles on the right (ie. you); b) has time to react to the vehicle on the right; c) knows the rules; d) could care less about the ruies.

You must slow down when approaching any uncontrolled intersection in order to allow enough time to assess the intentions of other drivers in the arcz and/or give way when

. required.

The “car on the right” rule is not arbitrary. The car on the left has more space to observe cars on the right —

* half the intersection, in fact.

Furthermore, were a “T- bone collision” to occur it would be the driver of the

- car on the right who would

most likely suffer che most when the driver's side is hit, hence, we yield instead. Hey, it’s a good rule. Right?

It is fortunate and no

fluke, that uncontrolled intersections are most com- monly located in quiet, rural areas where traffic is so sparse that a stop sign would be a hindrance most of the time and would otherwise encourage drivers to break the stop law. An uncon- trolled intersection is suppose to encourage drivers to slow down and pay attention but not stop unnecessarily.

Unfortunately, many dei- vers assume right of way and will drive at full speed through an uncontrotled intersection, They think that since the road they're on is bigger, more utilized or bet- ter suited for bonchead behaviour, that there’s never anyone coming up that little side road. Slowing down and looking for nothing is a waste of time.

Slowing down might, in fact, be a waste of time, save for the fact that drivers have had a couple of extra seconds to assess the intersection and make that decision before continuing on through.

Stopping, on the other hand, often seems unwar- ranted and can be just plain

frustrating, which is why some drivers will “blow” a stop sign, occasionally result- ing in a crash where a simple slow and yield would have resulted in the smooth flow of traffic.

Lo and behold, the rudi- mentary driving practice mandated by the uncon- trolled intersection law is becoming fess and less preva- lent. Quaint North Shore

- neighbourhood after quaint

North Shore neighbourhood is crying out for better meth- ods of slowing traffic down

_ Without pasting stop signs

everywhere.

There are numerous alter- natives for “calming” traffic without stopping it com- pletely Some are more sensi-

fe than others. Traffic circles work but small ones do not. Too bad.

It’s 20 wonder that visi- tors from out of town are a litde bewildered by uncon- teolied intersections, Even the locals can’t always seem to get it right.

Take control of the uncontrolled. Calra down, look around, be right, be safe.

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Friday, August &, 1999 — North Shore News — 34

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