Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos
Traffic in Toronto, in general, is more orderly than in London, and as a pedestrian I feel safer in Toronto. Toronto drivers actually stop when they're turning right at a red light. And, cyclists seem to obey traffic signals far more than in London.
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This is pretty much the exact opposite of what I observed after about 18 years of living there, and the occasional long stint back when trying to work another job between University sessions.
Traffic, I find, is not at all orderly. First of all, the volume of vehicles far outpaces what the grid or expressway networks were designed for. Rush hour is hopeless gridlock, and good luck getting around if you don't live within a kilometre of a subway line. Second, people are constantly pulling aggressive, inconsiderate or downright stupid manoevers to get around the said traffic jams. They bud you on freeway ramps or in left-turn lines; this
never happens to me in London. People block intersections. They turn left long after their light has turned red. People waiting for a left turn try to beat the traffic glut as soon as a light turns green. And if a traffic jam isn't created, there is usually someone plodding along in an arterial's left lane doing 40. Hardly anyone seems to remember the right-of-way at stop signs when vehicles all arrive at the same time, and it basically comes down to who is more willing to
yield the right-of-way (I had this happen to me more times than I care to count), but when you try to come to a full stop, people beep at you for being slow. Rolling stops are king, fuck the pedestrians. People will approach your car within an inch at a light, if you have a standard and roll back (which most standards tend to do) you will hit them. Nobody stops for emergency vehicles in the opposing lanes. So many times I feel rage bubbling up inside of me when I see grown adults driving like a bunch of flustered 16-year-olds.
The cyclists in Toronto are... extremely frustrating. I've counted dozens who just sail through red lights and stop signs all the time. Pedestrian crossing? Doesn't matter, I'll veer around him. They act as if they're entitled to the road and that there is a special set of rules for them. In a particularly scary incident I nearly hit one guy at the intersection of Scarberia Golf Club Rd. and Kingston Rd... he decided the red light was inconvenient for him, and if my car's brakes were 8 feet less effective, he would have become Saturn lunch.
Toronto is a traffic hell. You've spent 4 days there, take it from someone who spent 4 months commuting around the place. If you have not noticed it yet, it will eventually hit you, I guarantee it.