Edmonton Roads

[DKaz]

I ride a motorcycle, commute on it daily. My head is constantly on a swivel because regardless of who's at fault in the accident, the end result is the same. I did take a full riding course and passed my Class 6 riding exam with zero errors. Can't wait to get to the Castrol Raceway to improve my riding skills even further.

[240glt]

^ I got my class 6 learners in Vancouver back in '99 and picked up a sweet Suzuki GSR750, but I only rode a handful times before giving up... too scary riding down there (and I rode motocross for years & years)... Edmonton drivers are bad but man those Asians. That's a whole other level of awful

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by 240glt

^ I got my class 6 learners in Vancouver back in '99 and picked up a sweet Suzuki GSR750, but I only rode a handful times before giving up... too scary riding down there (and I rode motocross for years & years)... Edmonton drivers are bad but man those Asians. That's a whole other level of awful

HEY! As an Asian... what's a shoulder check?

From my general observation, I deal with incompetence in Vancouver and aggressiveness in Alberta. Kelowna's probably about a mix of 30% incompetent, 35% aggressiveness, and 35% "I know what the rules of the road are but I honestly just don't care". Single occupants in the HOV lane, turning right on a red when the sign says not to, running red lights in general, going the wrong way in roundabouts, etc. I almost got smoked twice because of that last one.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by DKaz

HEY! As an Asian... what's a shoulder check?

From my general observation, I deal with incompetence in Vancouver and aggressiveness in Alberta. Kelowna's probably about a mix of 30% incompetent, 35% aggressiveness, and 35% "I know what the rules of the road are but I honestly just don't care". Single occupants in the HOV lane, turning right on a red when the sign says not to, running red lights in general, going the wrong way in roundabouts, etc. I almost got smoked twice because of that last one.

LOL. my brother-in-law is Chinese, and he's the first one to admit that he's fits the stereotype too a "T". My sister won't let him drive with the kids in the car

I spend a lot of time in the Vernon area, and yeah it's a whole other scenario there as well. It's a small town and people seem to think that rules just don't apply. I think it has a lot to do with it's all full of really young and really old people. My dad picked me up at the airport a few weeks ago and as we're driving over the new section of 97 through Lake Country my dad is doing 75kph up the hill, not a care in the world. I think there's a lot of people like that in the Okanagan

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by 240glt

LOL. my brother-in-law is Chinese, and he's the first one to admit that he's fits the stereotype too a "T". My sister won't let him drive with the kids in the car

I spend a lot of time in the Vernon area, and yeah it's a whole other scenario there as well. It's a small town and people seem to think that rules just don't apply. I think it has a lot to do with it's all full of really young and really old people. My dad picked me up at the airport a few weeks ago and as we're driving over the new section of 97 through Lake Country my dad is doing 75kph up the hill, not a care in the world. I think there's a lot of people like that in the Okanagan

I also think since BC got rid of photo radar drivers aren't as worried about getting that ticket in the mail and the cops aren't out looking to pull people over.

When I was in Vernon two summers ago the highway driving into Kelowna was like the Autobahn in some places. People just zipping by me and I was doing 120. It's crazy.

[s211]

Originally Posted by TimB09

I also think since BC got rid of photo radar drivers aren't as worried about getting that ticket in the mail and the cops aren't out looking to pull people over.

When I was in Vernon two summers ago the highway driving into Kelowna was like the Autobahn in some places. People just zipping by me and I was doing 120. It's crazy.

I've had more than one person from outside the country wonder what was up with photo radar and why we don't have it, versus other parts of the world that are coated in them. Two words: political opportunism.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Without saying too much, that exact issue is being looked at by Service Alberta right now. There are some major, sweeping changes that could be happening throughout registries and motor vehicles

There are so many people that should not be driving right now. And don't get me started on those people that cannot parallel park.

No looking forward to moving into the centre of town later this year. Its one reason I have been getting to the office early and stay later.

[mintzilla]

I kind of feel that if we were to tighten up drivers training and enforce the rules more the economy would crash.

Can you imagine if idiots didn’t get their licenses so easy. Or if the cops suspended more licenses. Or gasp lock people up for drunk driving. Province would grind to a halt.

[Black Star]

Was driving on the the Henday yesterday and saw a drivers training vehicle with dark tinted glass all around lol. How does this even happen!!

Shows no enforcement of vehicle standards let alone of what they are attempting to teach new drivers.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by Black Star

Was driving on the the Henday yesterday and saw a drivers training vehicle with dark tinted glass all around lol. How does this even happen!!

Shows no enforcement of vehicle standards let alone of what they are attempting to teach new drivers.

If the city and province did a blitz of vehicle infractions like total tinted window, they would make a fortune.

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by Acey

I'd like them to start with stuff that's massively detrimental to safety, like vehicles with zero functioning tail lights... as opposed to tinted windows which are legal in several provinces and half of states.

Speaking of which, starting in the 2021 model year, phantom cars should be a thing of the past.

https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatur...-phantom-cars/

[240glt]

^ that's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. In our new Toyota 4Runner, you can actually have the DRL's and the dash lights on but the marker lights don't come on unless you have them on the right setting, which is stupid. They shouldn't even give you an option to turn the marker lights off

[Jaws]

Interesting topic regarding driving competency. Simply put, the level of driving skill has drastically diminished over the last 15 years. The response from the province and EPS has been to increase speed enforcement, but be lax with other types of enforcement. It’s easy to be a shitty driver while driving well under the speed limit. It’s a two prong attack: 1) new drivers take a mandatory driver training course (unbelievable thatin this era that it’s not) 2) Province handles the testing, and the bar is set much higher than currently set.

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by Acey

I'd like them to start with stuff that's massively detrimental to safety, like vehicles with zero functioning tail lights... as opposed to tinted windows which are legal in several provinces and half of states.

Any vehicle with inoperable tail lights are a serious concern for EPS. And when seen are stopped ticketed or towed.

When you can't make appropriate eye contact with the driver of a vehicle that has a dark tint....this is a serious safety concern.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by s211

My best Edmonton roundabout experience was seeing a car with Saskatchewan plates circling in the opposite direction to everyone else.

This city's done a disservice with getting rid of some traffic circles. The most baffling was along Groat Road at 118th. A former circle was replaced with a really awkward signalized quasi circle/intersection. If volume dictated lights, then they should have just gone full lighted intersection.

Loosing the circle north of Bonnie Doon mall is pending, and the redesign for that, with LRT involved, looks like a freaking mess.

Edmonton used to be the traffic circle capital of Canada. 114th had them at University and Belgravia.

[mintzilla]

As the city has moved to using the calcium chloride brine on the roads and paths I would like to see the street sweepers out earlier this year. Even if it snows again we won’t be dumping sand on the roads again so I feel that when it’s sunny out and the roads are melted street sweepers can get a lot of work done without worrying about doing the same section again.

What are your thoughts on this?

[Coldrsx]

That is right in theory, but the same crews do the snow and so they don't 'change over' until the weather allows.

[feepa]

Also its stupid to wash the roads when there is still ice/snow around and below freezing temps at night.

[mintzilla]

So southwest henday... we ever gonna fix that shit show or what?

[feepa]

Nothing in the 3 year capital budget. Mason said they are in the design phase. I find that a BS statement, as when the SW Henday was designed, they laid out plans for several stages. The plan was when traffic reached a certain level, the plans would just be activated. The current government doesn't seem to eager to fund transportation projects that aren't green.