Good thing I seldom drive in this city or I might lose my mind….
Just a reminder, Haligonian commuters:
1) When the light turns green, remove your foot from the brake, and – this is the key – push the gas pedal! There is NO REASON to allow ten car lengths of empty space between you and the car in front of you in gridlock traffic. YOU and people like you make the traffic worse than it has to be.
2) When you get to the rotary, don’t panic! All you need to do is wait for the first gap, and then ACCELERATE!!! See rule #1! If your style of starting is to release the brake and idle off in drive, you might struggle with the rotary! Punch it!!!!
3) Lets just stick to the rules of the road, shall we?!?! There is always some tool stopping and trying to wave me though a left turn when HE has the right of way. This just F’s up the flow of traffic!! Just stick to the rules, and we’ll all be better off. You aren’t doing me a favour by waving me through only to be creamed by the guy in the other lane who doesn’t know why the hell someone is turning left into oncoming traffic. Just stick to the rules, they exist for a reason.
—Mostly cyclist
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.
I agree. Maritimers are some of the most idiotic drivers out there. Sure Westerners are more aggressive but at least they more generally follow the rules of the road.
Ironically, these drivers think they are being helpful and polite. What they are being is dangerous. Damn east coast ne’er-do-wells.
PS Bus riding Haligonians are by far the rudest and most inconsiderate I have ever seen. Get off your fat ass and let the woman with the stroller have a seat for Chrissake. Damn fatties.
OP, Do I know you? lol
Whiney ass cyclists… I could go on about you idiots too… Oh wait, maybe it’s just some of you… And to think I almost labeled all cyclists morons because of a few… Wouldnt I have felt like an ignorant asshat…
“There is NO REASON to allow ten car lengths of empty space between you and the car in front of you in gridlock traffic.”
If I remember correctly from my driving test, by law you’re supposed to leave 4 car lengths… This might be excessive, but I know when I leave 2 at a stop light, it allows me to get around people who stall out – which happens more often than you might think…
Otherwise I basically agree with the whole “use the gas pedal” portion of this bitch…
Some east coast car drivers should be forced to drive their compact cars on major highways in Montreal, Calgary or even Fort McMurray to find out why bus (and truck) drivers leave 4 to 6 seconds of distance between vehicles when rolling at 90+kms/hr.
Natural selection will do wonders when they get crushed by the rigs that they’ve just cut off by invading that safety zone.
To the dumb bitch in a small blue car who cut off the big white bus inbound on the bi-hi at the Bayers Lake exit (7:40am) – I was doing 100 when you cut me off and braked hard with less than 10 feet between us. A signal light would have been nice and I’m not sure how you forgot I was there seeing how you just passed me. My passengers were having a good sleep until I had to plow on the brakes. Hopefully you made it the rest of the way without killing anyone. Next time, figure out that space between me and the car ahead is to prevent rear end collisions and allow time to make a quick manoever if needed.
Some east coast car drivers should be forced to drive their compact cars on major highways in Montreal, Calgary or even Fort McMurray to find out why bus (and truck) drivers leave 4 to 6 seconds of distance between vehicles when rolling at 90+kms/hr.
Natural selection will do wonders when they get crushed by the rigs that they’ve just cut off by invading that safety zone. Same goes for those who can’t understand why its not a good idea to squeeze between the large vehicle and the curb as the bus/truck swings wide to make a turn.
To the dumb bitch in a small blue car who cut off the big white bus inbound on the bi-hi at the Bayers Lake exit (7:40am) – I was doing 100 when you cut me off and braked hard with less than 10 feet between us. A signal light would have been nice and I’m not sure how you forgot I was there seeing how you just passed me. My passengers were having a good sleep until I had to plow on the brakes. Hopefully you made it the rest of the way without killing anyone. Next time, figure out that space between me and the car ahead is to prevent rear end collisions and allow time to make a quick manoever if needed.
While Maritime drivers, particularly Nova Scotian drivers, tend to be quite courteous, they can also be some of the most hesitant, frustrating, and just plain annoying drivers on the road. Seriously dude, I know it can be a bit tricky to make a left turn onto Sackville Street from Queen Street on a weekday afternoon with there being a hill, limited vision, and no traffic lights, but when you have at least three seconds of time and are still too scared to go, just turn right and let the rest of us get on with it! And to the guy behind me, give me some space buddy! I’m driving a standard so I can’t help but to roll back a bit on hills. What’s the rule for that anyway, if I happen to roll back too much and hit the person behind me? My fault, or theirs?
I agree with pretty much everything you put in your post, OP. The problem here is not overly aggressive or inconsiderate drivers, which is nice, but scared, sometimes incompetent, and oftentimes too nice drivers.
if your rolling back any more than an inch or so, you need to learn how to use your clutch better.
May I add: a red light means “stop”. It does not indicate that five more cars should proceed through the intersection. The intersection of Barrington and North streets seems especially bad for this.
It’s your fault qpmz, if you go from stopped to rolling back into someone…it’s your fault. It’s rude to ride the bumper of the guy in front of you though, especially in a hilly town like Halifax. With so many automatics on the road, I think people forget that others still drive sticks and a little extra space for the roll back is sometimes helpful.
Whenever someone gets right up on my bumper, I get nervous that I’m going to roll back(even though I’ve been driving for 17years), but if no one’s there I’m fine. I always wondered what would happen if I rolled back into someone, thank God I never got to find out.
The law in Newfoundland is that if you roll back into someone it’s their fault if they didn’t leave the legally defined distance between your two cars. They were too close and are in the wrong. It should be the same here.
It is, NL… If I hit reverse at a red light instead of drive, and I hit your car (behind me), it’s your fault… anytime the rear end of a car is involved, it’s the driver behind who’s at fault… there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many jokes to be made her, but alas, I have not the time today…
So if I leave a car length between us and some dumb fuck rolls back the entire 8 – 10 feet while trying to engage their clutch, somehow I’m in the wrong?? The onus should be on the person coasting backwards to prove how they were “in control” of their vehicle.
I’d like to see the same testing process that many provinces have for those taking a road exam for commercial licenses – a standard transmission must be used or else the license gets an “automatic only” endorsement on it. That would weed out many, many people who have no business trying to drive a standard due to lack of coordination and unstanding of clutch operation.
All I’m asking for is about two feet or so on the especially steep hills (Duke, Prince, etc.). As for only rolling back no more than an inch, maybe with some cars, but not the one I drive! Some of you lucky automatic drivers even start rolling forward behind me when the light turns green while I’m still shifting into 1st and letting go of my break, expecting me to just automatically roll forward just like you can. Once again, I think it all comes down to basic logic and understanding.
qpmzwonxeibcruv…basic logic, & understanding are telling me very clearly you need to buy a vehicle with a automatic transmission .
There is no reason you can’t already be in first gear, one foot on the clutch, the other on the brake, & just shift one foot to gas as you relax the foot on the clutch & away you should go…tell us again why your waiting for everything to be clear before you bother to put your vehicle into gear ?
after watchin canada’s worst driver…i know its just a tv show and knowing how poorly tested new drivers are i have come to the conclusion that at least half of the drivers have no clue at all…i own a standard and roll back ever so slightly…maybe q just has a shite car…and please folks if you have them put your snow tires on…you need every advantage
I’d have to say that the longer you drive a standard, the more you allow yourself to roll back because of the comfort level. When I first started driving stick I would ride the clutch on hills if there was someone behind me. Now I know I’m not going to stall and I’m comfortable with the backwards motion of the car so I’ll take a little more time going brake->gas. Hell if I see someone riding my ass on a hill I’ll let myself roll back more just to freak the asshole out. I’ve seen some wide eyes in my rear view mirror! And yeah, duke and brunswick is a fun one to practice on if you’re unsure about hills.
And the “roll back 8-10 feet” comment is a bit extreme. Only a total moron would roll that much.
I got clarification on the matter of who’d be at fault in NS if you rolled back into a stopped vehicle.
There is no minimum required distance between cars when stopped on the roadway, that only applies when rolling along. The driver of the reversing vehicle would be at fault, its basically a backing accident and could even be called unsafe operation of the vehicle if you can’t control the roll backs.
You don’t need to ride the clutch and panic to prevent rolling backwards but a bit of practice and learning where the friction point is will keep your car from rolling back long enough to go from brake to gas and get the forward momentum going. Commercial heavy truck operators are taught to let the clutch out completely before pinning the gas pedal and I know from experience I can hold a motorcoach at Prince & Brunswick with the clutch and bit of fuel as the light changes to green and not roll back an inch.
Thanks VoR…I tried looking it up but couldn’t find anything concrete about it. Makes sense to be though. If you roll back into a stopped vehicle, I can’t really see how that’s the other guy’s fault. It’s like hitting into a parked car because people parked too close to let you out easily. They other guy may be rude, but you are still wrong if you run into them.
if you need a hill to bone up on your boneheaded clutching may i suggest the end of connolly at windsor…its fun if you’re good at it
If you need a quiet place to practice starting on a hill, try Royles Ave (off MacDonald) in Burnside. I’ve seen many safety officers or trainers from trucking companies use this hill to teach the proper use of a clutch.