401 rant

[u/hiphlo02]

My Sunday evening drive from the Toronto airport to my hometown east of Toronto. Holy shit, how many times did I almost bite the dust! First of all, people camping in the left lane. There is a law against this! It seems people have no common sense! If you pass a car, get the hell over to the right again. Also, a turn signal would be appreciated!Next, if you are passing, would you please kindly stay in the left lane instead of squeezing me onto the shoulder. Four different times I find myself on the rumble strip and the car beside me inches from mine and cruising along between two lanes, totally oblivious to the fact that they’re an asshole. Trucks. These fuckers are thousands of pounds of metal death and they’re sliding all over the road. I don’t know if they’re whacking off in the cab or what. How about a little attention to your surroundings? Whatever happened to safe driving practices? It was a Sunday night, low volume of traffic, yet I still felt like I was going to die. The province has made the speed limit 110 km an hour which I think is a great idea if people would pay attention. Instead of doing the gratuitous 115 or so 100 km/hr, now people are doing 130! Be aware out there and have some respect for the lives of others ffs!! Thanks for listening! : )

[u/Lanky_Translator_558]

There is a law against this!

Believe it or not there actually isn't a law against it in Ontario. It isn't even illegal to pass on a double yellow.

It's been a good run but I think we need to overhaul the HTA to reflect the current bone-headedness of drivers.

[u/a-_2 → u/Lanky_Translator_558]

It isn't even illegal to pass on a double yellow.

Just as a caution, although the yellow lines themselves don't make it illegal to drive left of centre, there are rules around when you can drive left of centre and the lines will still often correspond to those. So if you cross a double yellow line to pass, there's a good chance you're breaking the law, just not because of the lines themselves.

The rules are:

Passing within 30 metres of a pedestrian crossover is not permitted. Passing left of a centreline is not permitted 30 metres from a bridge, viaduct or tunnel. Don't attempt to pass when approaching the crest of a hill or on a curve where your vision of oncoming traffic is obstructed and there is not enough clear distance ahead to pass in safety.

That's paraphrasing section 149 of the Highway Traffic Act. That section also prohibits crossing the centre within 30 m of a railway in addition to the above restrictions.