Mirror, signal left, brake and stop before the marked stop line. Look left, look right and the pickup that was following behind stops ahead of me on my right, half on and half off the roadway, to make a right turn. Of course, I can’t see cross traffic to my right properly, so he gets to go before I do.
I’ll bet that he was completely oblivious to both his bad manners and the traffic rules that he failed to heed.
Passing on the Right
Passing on the right is generally forbidden in BC and having to travel off of the roadway to do it is one of those instances. No matter in this case that the gravel shoulder is smooth and available to drive on it is still not acceptable driving practice. The white line that defines the right edge of the roadway at this intersection has been almost totally worn away by drivers who have preceded this man.
If he had stopped properly at the marked stop line I still would have had to wait because I could not see over the front of his pickup.
One suggestion to prevent this from happening that was made to me would be to approach the intersection as far to the right as possible. While this would work for making a right turn or travelling straight through, it is not proper when making a left turn.
Drivers turning left are required to position themselves at the left edge of the lane as they approach the intersection:
Turning at intersections
165 (2) When the driver of a vehicle intends to turn it to the left at an intersection where traffic is permitted to move in both directions on each highway entering the intersection, the driver must
(a) cause the vehicle to approach the intersection in the portion of the right side of the roadway that is nearest the marked centre line, or if there is no marked centre line, then as far as practicable in the portion of the right half of the roadway that is nearest the centre line,
There is no doubt in my mind that if this man was standing in a lineup and I walked past and inserted myself in front of him I would be in for at least a dirty look, some verbal protest or even physical retaliation. That situation is really no different from this one at the stop sign. He took a turn that was not his to take and caused inconvenience to others. Aside from being illegal, it is simply bad manners in my view, and probably yours too.
Story URL: https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/behaviour/bad-manners-stop-sign— Tim Schewe Road Safety Advocate DriveSmartBC.ca
