Ho-ray for me, I’m moving to Toronto from Saskatchewan, so I took a read through their driver’s handbook, and I still have a few questions.
[ol]
[li]In school zones without the speed tag, is the speed limit 40 km/h? (Blue school zone signs, how weird)?[/li][li]What do those big, square, yellow signs with the school zone symbol mean? The Ontario driver’s manual says that blue ones are school zone crossings, but that you don’t need to do anything when you see one. [/li][li] WTF does a flashing GREEN light mean? Does it mean that the other side has a flashing yellow? [/li][li] When turning left, is it okay to park your ass in the middle of the intersection until it is safe to proceed? Will you get a ticket if you complete your left turn on a red light, provided that you were in the intersection when the light turned yellow? How many cars may wait in the intersection? Ie If the first person is in the intersection must the second person be behind the stop line? [/li][li] The manual says to “slow down” and move over to the next lane (if possible) when passing emergency vehicles stopped on the highway. Do I need to slow down to 60 km/h when passing emergency vehicles as I have to when in Sk and Alta? [/li][li] Does the previous speed limit hold if I am in a construction zone that does not have a posted speed limit (ie just the men at work sign, without the orange speed limit sign). [/li][li] Do you need to slow down to 60 km/h when you see highway workers who are working outside of a construction zone? WTF are they doing? I saw about a bajillion of them working without any signs placed. [/li][li] Is flashing your emergency lights when behind a slow moving truck on the highway politeness or an actual law?[/li][li] How fracking fast do you need to go to get pulled over by the cops? I was going close to 120 km/h on that highway between Barrie and Toronto and I was passed by a cop! And people were passing him! And any slower and I would have been a danger to traffic! [/li][li] Are there any fine points to driving in Toronto that might trip up someone from Saskabush? [/li][/ol]
In school zones without the speed tag, is the speed limit 40 km/h? (Blue school zone signs, how weird)?
Not sure. Speed limits are always posted in school zones. Sometimes it’s not 40 KPH. I can think of one that’s 60 and one that’s 80.
What do those big, square, yellow signs with the school zone symbol mean? The Ontario driver’s manual says that blue ones are school zone crossings, but that you don’t need to do anything when you see one.
It’s just a caution sign. Beware!
WTF does a flashing GREEN light mean? Does it mean that the other side has a flashing yellow?
Advanced green. You can go, typically for left turns, but the other side still has solid red.
When turning left, is it okay to park your ass in the middle of the intersection until it is safe to proceed? Will you get a ticket if you complete your left turn on a red light, provided that you were in the intersection when the light turned yellow? How many cars may wait in the intersection? Ie If the first person is in the intersection must the second person be behind the stop line?
You won’t get ticketed for being in the intersection when the light turns yellow, or red. You can get ticketed for proceeding into the intersection on a yellow.
The manual says to “slow down” and move over to the next lane (if possible) when passing emergency vehicles stopped on the highway. Do I need to slow down to 60 km/h when passing emergency vehicles as I have to when in Sk and Alta?
This is a relatively new law, I believe. There’s no defined “slow” speed. Just slow the heck down and move over if possible. The police, etc. are too busy already to have to worry about what exact speed you slow down to.
Does the previous speed limit hold if I am in a construction zone that does not have a posted speed limit (ie just the men at work sign, without the orange speed limit sign).
That’s my interpretation.
Do you need to slow down to 60 km/h when you see highway workers who are working outside of a construction zone? WTF are they doing? I saw about a bajillion of them working without any signs placed.
You probably don’t need to, but it’s no doubt a good idea.
Is flashing your emergency lights when behind a slow moving truck on the highway politeness or an actual law?
Politeness. And safety. I do this if all of a sudden my speed drastically drops on the highway, just to warn the dumfuck coming up behind me that something has changed.
How fracking fast do you need to go to get pulled over by the cops? I was going close to 120 km/h on that highway between Barrie and Toronto and I was passed by a cop! And people were passing him! And any slower and I would have been a danger to traffic!
You can usually get away with 20% over the speed limit and no one will blink an eye. I drive 110 KPH in a 90 zone to work and back and pass cops all the time.
Are there any fine points to driving in Toronto that might trip up someone from Saskabush?
No. Not really. People will not keep to the right unless passing. People weave in and out of lanes from left to right to middle to right to left all the time in order to arrive at their destination 5 minutes early. This is not technically the legal way to drive, but it is done by a lot of drivers with no repercussions.
For point 10., does Saskatchewan have left-turn only lanes, like this? Ontario does in some places, so be aware of other cars in them. Avoid driving down them for any significant distance, and use them only to turn left or as a half-way point while merging onto the main road.
I was a little surprised at pedestrian behaviour in the GTA/Horseshoe. I seem to recall that there are fewer intersections with dedicated pedestrian crossing lights, so a green light for car traffic is also a green light for them. Or something. I don’t really remember what it was, but I was always surprised at having people randomly step out in front of me when I wanted to turn and I was never quite able to predict when it would happen (which is funny now, given that I live in Montreal and pedestrians cross wherever and whenever they damn well please).
Officially the speed limit is 100km/h on the 400 series highways, but IME the speed it usually closer to 130 (when it isn’t 0, of course, which does happen more often than not!). Did you know a Tercel could hit 140km/h?
Driving in Toronto can be fun as well - watch out for streetcars. I’m not even sure what the rules are, but I’m pretty sure they have priority all the damn time. My advice is park your car and use transit if you can.
If you’re planning on living on one side of the city and commuting to work on the other side, please just make it easier on yourself and destroy your soul now. Alternatively, if you can afford it and it’s close by, the 407ETR is actually pretty convenient - rarely any traffic and I don’t think I ever saw a cop that was there for any reason other than tending to an accident. I did Burlington-Mississauga Rd for work…saved a lot of time at a high cost, but shreds of humanity still remain in me!
Precisely. Also fun: the light that goes green for cars but not for pedestrians.
Streetcars: if you’re coming up behind one going the same direction you are, and it’s in the left lane and you’re in the right lane, and its doors are open, stop. People will be crossing the lane in front of you. There are reminders to this effect on the back of the streetcar.
They ought to just make the speed limit on the 400-series highways 120 km/h. That would make the law resemble reality a little more closely.
Although the typical speed on the 400 series runs around 120-130 the margin for error is not huge. There is a new dangerous driving law now that says anything 50km/hr or more over the speed limit gets you an instant impound of your car and suspension of your drivers license. Basically if you prefer to drive fast just make sure you’re never the fastest. This is one race where coming is 2nd place is the best spot to be in.
Pedestrian crosswalks. Always well-marked, including a sign over the crosswalk itself, but rarely flashing lights, as in western Canada. Instead, pedestrians stand and point, and wait for the traffic to stop. When it does, they cross.
Don’t make the mistake many western drivers do in Toronto, that being that a pedestrian standing on a corner is intending to cross; and thus, you must stop. To put it very generally, cars in Toronto have the right of way on roads; it is pedestrians who wait for traffic to clear (or stop, at a clearly-marked crosswalk) before crossing. As I said, this is very general advice, and there are exceptions; and of course, you must stop if a pedestrian steps into your path, no matter the circumstance.
Also, be aware that lanes on the 401 have the annoying habit of disappearing into exits. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself exiting where you did not intend to, or finding yourself exiting into the express lanes, which will take you past the exit you wanted, with no escape for miles. This means that there will be lots of lane-changing happening, as drivers jig and jog to get into a through lane or an exit lane, as they need. It can get hairy–you may want to have an experienced Toronto friend take you, as a passenger, along the 401 a few times, just so you get a handle on how the road works.
I don’t live in Toronto now, but I learned to drive there, and did so for many years. It’s an acquired skill.
Do they really do the pointing thing? I remember when I was in grade school they told us that when we wanted to cross the road we were supposed to hold our arm out, but I’ve never seen anyone do that.
I noticed the 401 thing. I got lost on a cloverleaf, and it took me about an hour to get back in the right direction because I didn’t understand what my GPS was telling me. It was really hard to figure out which turn it wanted me to make when there were two possible turns in close succession; but still, it was flat out terrifying when it lost the signal in an underpass. I told my GPS to take me to Toronto, and it took me right to the downtown core. I hit Toronto for the first time around 5:30, 6PM. :eek:
I was really enjoying the drive: calm, peaceful, amazing scenery. Right up until I hit the highway between Barrie and Toronto. It was like being dropped right in the middle of an F1 event.
Another question I just though of: who gives way on those two lane streets with the traffic calming chicanes that narrow the street down to 1 lane? Is there a yield sign on the other side of the chicane?
The speeding thing is interesting. In Alta, you don’t dare speed even a little bit. I’m not sure what the relationship between the RCMP, other cops, and the Sheriffs is, but the Sheriffs are famous for pulling people over at the bottom of hills, or for going just a few km/h over the limit.
About the street cars: are you allowed to drive in the lane with the rails? I saw people doing that, but I’m not sure if that is a lane, or if it is a centre turning lane.
mnemosyne: I ranked the apartments I looked at according to public transit commute time - I am in one with a 45 minute commute, and it is right across the street from a library. I don’t know if I should complain about losing my 10 minute commute, or if I should complain and gleefully savour my enforced reading time!
Ha Ha. I am a chemical engineer too. And yet somehow I couldn’t find work in the oil patch. It is an upside down world. Full of cats playing with dogs, rednecks and liberals holding hands singing kumbya to the tune of “I’m Alberta Bound”.
At the risk of sounding like an American A-hole, why do folks with Ontario and Quebec license plates terrorize the highways in the US? It seems like (nearly) every time I encounter Ontario/Quebec plates, the vehicle wearing them is either 20 miles over or 20 miles under the speed limit, and frequently swerving for no reason.
FTR - I’m not a Canada hater or anything like that, I just identify people by their license plates (“get out of the f’n way, Utah!” - that kind of thing).
Yeah, the 400’s like that. They can’t build rail lines fast enough in my book.
I remember one time coming back from the east in a friend’s car (friend driving); we were on the 401 well east of Toronto, and the Sunday afternoon going-home-after-the-weekend traffic was screaming smoothly along at 120, but close enough together to be scary, with no room for error. There’s a reason I call the 401 “The Evil Death Highway of Doom”.
I cant speak for the quebec folks, but ontario drivers dont usually expect that other folks highways are any different. I read on one board, that some state trooper had pulled over at least nine cars from Ontario, before he gave up , fearing for his states reputation in the tourism trade.
As for the slower folks , that I could not tell ya.
Normally the 400 is pretty peaceful , except for long weekends and pot loads of follks who want to get up the cottage or wasaga beach.
You probably had a phrase in Sask called quota time, its no different here. There are a number of places that have roughly the same traps, but at the moment no redlight cameras. Depending on where you are at anyone given time, your dealing with the OPP, yorkies, peelers, or various metro divisions ,if your going to be GTA bound most of the time.
Well, there’s your first mistake: you’re trying to use a GPS in Toronto. Don’t. Miss something, and as you’ve learned, you’ll spend a lot of time backtracking. More often than not, there’s a handy shortcut that will get you away from your error and on the road to where you want to go. Problem is, GPSs don’t know these shortcuts the way a Torontonian, or a tourist with a map, does. Get a map–yes, a real, paper map–and study it thoroughly. Toronto streets are not numbered (unlike western Canada), do not follow a block numbering system (as cities in western Canada do), and change names frequently (University Avenue, Queen’s Park Circle, and Avenue Road are all the same street, but watch for those Avenue Road diversions at Lonsdale by UCC, and off Oriole Parkway just north of there). Learn these, and other, streets; learn that Carlton and College are the same street; that Spadina can be a road or avenue, depending on location; and that Yonge is the great divider.
GPS? Hell, I drove in the GTA for over thirty years, and never felt the need for a GPS, even if they had been invented. Given Toronto conditions nowadays, I doubt if you could pay attention to a GPS while driving in town. Get a paper map and learn the city so you don’t need a GPS.
Drivers on the GTA highways can be aggressive, and many others selfish. The combination frequently makes it frustrating to drive around. Lots of drivers sit in the middle lane of the highways even if the right lane is clear. Others will drive in the left lane at 110 and seem to feel that they are improving the highway experience by making sure others don’t speed.
Watch out for cabs in Toronto, they drive slow when they don’t have a passenger and are trolling the sidewalks looking for a fare, and very pushy when they do have someone (trying to skip lines of traffic).
Spoons advice is sound, you don’t always want to listen to your GPS. I have ours on in the city, but she’s constantly yelling at me because I am off her favoured route. At the very least you can see where you currently are.
We live 30km outside of Toronto, and when traffic is clear it takes us a half hour to get downtown. If we’re driving in rush hour, it takes an hour. Driving in the city is the same. We looked to buy a house in Toronto, but decided that we could afford a bigger house outside TO that would take us the same time to drive to downtown.
I spent a year driving in Saskatoon and Prince Albert in the mid 80s. It was ‘quaint’ compared to any of the cities in the GTA. Everywhere is busy all of the time now.
I really hope that is your actual commute time! Be prepared in the winter - heavy snow can shut down the streetcars and cause chaos as Torontonians try and figure out how to get home/to work. My friend used to live at Broadview and Danforth and was stuck walking home from the Eaton Centre or a transfer point more than once (since she didn’t want to/couldn’t pay for a cab).
The city (region, really) slows to a crawl after a large snowfall; coming from Quebec, I found it rather odd how everyone always seemed surprised that it might actually snow in gasp the winter! If you end up driving a lot, buy winter tires if you can. Toronto isn’t really equipped for large-scale plowing and street cleaning/snow removal. Few drivers are prepared for snow, relying on FWD and all-season tires to get them moving on snow and ice, which results in (IMHO) a very large amount of ditched vehicles. It once took us nearly 5 hours to cross the city from Hamilton to Cobourg thanks to about 15-20cm of snow in the previous 12 hours. We counted SUVs in the ditch/against the rails and IIRC we reached something like 25. It was kind of absurd.
I probably sound pretty negative, and when it comes to driving/commuting in the GTA, I am. It sucks, and I’m glad I no longer live in the area. I also figure pointing out all the crappy things will make you better prepared for them! That being said, I really enjoy visiting the GTA/GH and I hope you enjoy it!
One guess: some cars from Canada don’t have mph on their speedometers, only kph*, and as a result they don’t have a good idea as to exactly how fast “65 mph” should feel. Yes, you could look down at your speedometer and noodle out how many klicks to the hour that is, but how often do you keep an eye on your speedometer when you’re driving in a foreign country?
*I’m not sure what proportion of Canadian cars have mph on their speedometers but I’ve been in more than one that didn’t.
