Highways in Canada

[SignalHillHiker]

It's 12 in just over two weeks and 16 since August 1.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/newfo...ndland-highway-crashes-16-dead-1.4290059

[wave46]

I'm not trying to be insensitive, but aside from the fact that several really tragic one have happened recently, has there been a spike in raw numbers?

Is there engineering problems with the roads? (i.e. are the accidents all happening on the same stretch of highway?)

As per Transport Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador has one of the lower rates of traffic fatalities per 100,000 population and per billion vehicle kilometers traveled.

Canadian Motor Vehicle Collision Stats 2014

[swimmer_spe]

I know the solution, but you ain't gonna like it....

Locally, there is a rural road that had a posted speed limit of 80 km/hr. The residents complained, and they lowered the speed limit to 70 km/hr. It is a straight flat 4 lane road.

So, now people do 90 km/hr instead of 100 km/hr.

What is needed is more enforcement of the speed limit. If you know that you will get nailed for 5 over, you will watch your speed and slow down.

So, put more police out, have them pull over anyone going 5 km/hr over and give them a ticket.

... told ya you wouldn't like it.

[SignalHillHiker]

I was driving with Ayreonaut and got a warning going 40km/hr over the limit on a secondary highway. We were flowing with traffic, actually falling farther behind a car directly in front of us. It just feels like you'll get rear-ended if you're not hitting 120.

But yeah actual enforcement would help.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I was driving with Ayreonaut and got a warning going 40km/hr over the limit on a secondary highway. We were flowing with traffic, actually falling farther behind a car directly in front of us. It just feels like you'll get rear-ended if you're not hitting 120.

But yeah actual enforcement would help.

LOL! 40 km/h over the limit and you're slowing others down?

I have the solution then. Photo radars everywhere. Either it will fix the deaths problem or else NL will turn from "have not" to "have" very soon and start paying massively into equalization.

[SignalHillHiker]

I think we're still technically "have".

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

We've had around 15 deaths on the highways over the past few weeks and people are starting to turn on the government for it. The flashpoint seems to be the two-lane Veterans Memorial Highway on the Northwest Avalon, where people are demanding passing lanes. Government is pushing back saying people just need to slow down and drive to the conditions. The highway gets up to 9,000 vehicles today with speeds ranging from 120-150 km/hr despite a speed limit under 100.

One thing I noticed in Newfoundland compared to Northern Ontario is that there are way fewer police cars there patrolling highways. You could drive as fast as you want to with virtually no enforcement. The OPP here tends to always have vehicles on highways. It was quite rare to see an RCMP car in Newfoundland when travelling on all parts of the island. Extreme speeding is pretty much a death wish on most highways in NL except the TCH.

I remember seeing a car that went off the road on the Burin peninsula at what must have been a very high speed and there were severe injuries. The ambulance was there but the police hadn't yet arrived. In Northern Ontario the police would normally always get to the scene first.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I was driving with Ayreonaut and got a warning going 40km/hr over the limit on a secondary highway. We were flowing with traffic, actually falling farther behind a car directly in front of us. It just feels like you'll get rear-ended if you're not hitting 120.

But yeah actual enforcement would help.

There's the issue right there. Poor enforcement. We have highways around Timmins where you can drive 100 in an 80 zone but go above 100 and you'll likely get a ticket. Also here, the police will often reduce the speed on the ticket from what you were actually going if you haven't had a ticket in awhile. I once got a ticket for going 111 in a 90 zone but the officer reduced it to 105 which meant a much smaller fine and no demerit points. If I were to challenge it in court then the 111 would be what I would be challenging.

AND we also have this:

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by lio45

LOL! 40 km/h over the limit and you're slowing others down?

I have the solution then. Photo radars everywhere. Either it will fix the deaths problem or else NL will turn from "have not" to "have" very soon and start paying massively into equalization.

Originally Posted by Loco101

There's the issue right there. Poor enforcement. We have highways around Timmins where you can drive 100 in an 80 zone but go above 100 and you'll likely get a ticket. Also here, the police will often reduce the speed on the ticket from what you were actually going if you haven't had a ticket in awhile. I once got a ticket for going 111 in a 90 zone but the officer reduced it to 105 which meant a much smaller fine and no demerit points. If I were to challenge it in court then the 111 would be what I would be challenging.

AND we also have this:

Photo Radar anywhere is unpalatable to drivers. They see it as a tax. You know, if you didn't drive over the limit, you would never pay for it.

The other problem is speed fines are low. Really low. Now a days, for most people, $100 isn't enough to scare us. If they made it $1000 per 10 over, that might be enough.

Still, enforcement is the real solution.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Loco101

AND we also have this:

Everybody knows about this, and it really does work. Years ago I used to regularly do 150+ km/h on the QEW late in the evening between Toronto and Hamilton, and there are lots of mostly empty country roads around here with an 80 km/h limit where it's easy and extremely tempting to get up to 130 km/h, but those days are gone. I'm now strictly a +20 km/h guy, except on the 401, where it gets to +30 km/h in the flow of traffic in the passing lane.

It would be interesting to see the reaction if they lowered the threshold to 40 km/h.

[Innsertnamehere]

Yup. I will regularly do 30 over on 400 series highways if it generally matches the flow of traffic, often 40 over on the 407. Always very careful not to push 50 though.

The 407 is a whole other ballgame though too. I've been passed by cops while I was doing 135km/h. When they do stakeout they sit and wait for a 50 over ticket.

[swimmer_spe]

About a decade ago, my first time in Montreal, I was driving down A 40. I was cruising at about 110, being passed by everyone. I then saw the speed limit sign - 70!

[vid]

Northern Ontario highways at night are just OPP, transports, and the occasional traveller. When I take the highway across town I usually see at least 2 OPP cars. But despite their presence, you can easily go 110 on the divided highway east of Thunder Bay without getting a ticket. Anything past that is kind of pushing it though. Most of their cars on the highway here are unmarked, you can only tell they're police cars because they have antennas and small police hub caps. The city at least had the courtesy to have "Police" in a matte texture applied to the side of their cars. OPP are sneakier.

[haljackey]

So Highway 427 may have become the second highway in the world to hit average daily volumes of 400,000 vehicles per day (the other being the 401)
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=489565&page=217

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Source: http://www.raqsa.mto.gov.on.ca/techpubs/TrafficVolumes.nsf/fa027808647879788525708a004b5df8/f51986ea499a13b08525745f006dd30b/$FILE/Provincial%20Highways%20Traffic%20Volumes%202016%20AADT%20Only.pdf

401's highest count is 416,500 between Highway 400 and Weston Road

427's highest count is 400,700 between Burnhampopre and Rathburn roads.

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For comparison with the USA, here's some 300,000+ roads

Source is from 2012 https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstatebrief2012/

I-405 in LA - 377,500

I-75 / I-85 in Atlanta (Downtown Connector) - 358,390

I-90 / I-94 in Chicago (Dan Ryan Expressway) - 309,700

I-10 in Houston - 305,630

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It's hard to claim the 401 as the busiest on Earth, but based on the AADT (Average Annual Daily Traffic) counts, only the 401 and 427 have volumes over 400,000 in Canada / USA.

Other countries may publish their information differently, or not at all.

[FrAnKs]

Good evening everyone, Here's my newest video featuring Route 117 between Ste-Agathe-des-Monts and Mont-Tremblant Northbound through the Laurentian Hills. Enjoy !

• Video Link

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Everybody knows about this, and it really does work. Years ago I used to regularly do 150+ km/h on the QEW late in the evening between Toronto and Hamilton, and there are lots of mostly empty country roads around here with an 80 km/h limit where it's easy and extremely tempting to get up to 130 km/h, but those days are gone.

Several years ago, QPP went on a "ticketing strike" for a while (couple months IIRC) so there was no enforcement on Quebec's freeways. I know many people who "enjoyed it" (i.e. drove differently than if tickets had been a threat). I'd lie if I didn't include myself in that group.

The difference it made on behavior was obvious - you'd see a LOT more people speeding during that period.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by lio45

Several years ago, QPP went on a "ticketing strike" for a while (couple months IIRC) so there was no enforcement on Quebec's freeways. I know many people who "enjoyed it" (i.e. drove differently than if tickets had been a threat). I'd lie if I didn't include myself in that group.

The difference it made on behavior was obvious - you'd see a LOT more people speeding during that period.

I would hazard to guess that the only thing slowing them down is the governor in their cars.

[haljackey]

New pics of the Lower Simcoe ramp under construction in Downtown Toronto

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/tor...w-park-m-s-city-of-toronto.21786/page-58

[ssiguy]

Another great vid, thanks Franks! I think at this point it's quite clear that we all love you and want to bear your child.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by vid

Northern Ontario highways at night are just OPP, transports, and the occasional traveller. When I take the highway across town I usually see at least 2 OPP cars. But despite their presence, you can easily go 110 on the divided highway east of Thunder Bay without getting a ticket. Anything past that is kind of pushing it though. Most of their cars on the highway here are unmarked, you can only tell they're police cars because they have antennas and small police hub caps. The city at least had the courtesy to have "Police" in a matte texture applied to the side of their cars. OPP are sneakier.

Oh yea I've done 120 on that, and at 11 pm too. I was so scared that there would be a cruiser hiding at those U-turn spots. I just feel that the speed limit could have been higher despite all the at-grade intersections.