Intersections and turns

Read the intersection before you reach it

Every intersection tells you how it works before you arrive, if you look for the right things. Is it controlled by a signal, by signs, or by nothing at all? Which lane are you in, and what do the arrows painted on that lane allow? Is there a crosswalk, and is anyone standing at the curb waiting to use it? Are the vehicles ahead of you slowing for a reason you cannot see yet?

Get that reading done early, because the last few car lengths are for looking, not for deciding. Ease off the accelerator, cover the brake, and scan left, then right, then left again as you approach. The second look to the left matters because the traffic nearest to you on a two way road comes from your left, and a lot can change in the seconds it takes to check the other side.

Choose your lane well before the intersection rather than at it. Changing lanes inside an intersection is a fault on a road test in every province, and on a real road it puts you beside a driver who has no reason to expect you.

Signals, and the moment the light turns amber

A steady amber light means stop, unless you are already so close that stopping would be unsafe or would put you into the middle of the intersection. It does not mean hurry. The habit worth building is to decide as you approach any green light how you would respond if it changed, so the answer is ready before you need it. A green light that has been green since you first saw it is one that is due to change.

A green arrow protects the movement it points at, which means the traffic that would otherwise conflict with you is being held. A round green does not protect a left turn, so you must find your own gap. A red light means a full stop behind the line, and it stays a red light while you wait for that gap on an amber, so never edge over the line on red.

Two signal details differ across the country and are worth checking in the guide for your province. Right turns on a red light are allowed in most of Canada after a complete stop and a proper look, but not everywhere, and never where a sign forbids it. A flashing green light does not mean the same thing in every province: in some places it protects a turn, and in others it marks a crossing where people on foot control the signal. Being wrong about that one is dangerous, so look it up rather than assume.

The left turn across traffic

The unprotected left turn is the hardest ordinary thing a new driver does, and it is where a large share of serious intersection crashes happen. You signal early, move into the correct lane, and pull forward into the intersection when the way is clear enough to be there, keeping your front wheels pointed straight ahead. Straight wheels matter: if a vehicle hits you from behind while you wait, you are pushed forward rather than into oncoming traffic.

Then you judge the gap. The question is not whether the oncoming car is far away. It is whether you can finish the turn and be clear of their path before they reach you, at the speed they are actually travelling. Look past the first vehicle for a second one following close behind, and look through the intersection for someone coming the other way who also wants to turn left, because two left turning cars can hide each other completely.

Finish the turn by yielding to anyone crossing the road you are entering. Drivers concentrating on the gap in traffic often complete a good turn straight into a pedestrian who has had a walk signal the whole time. If the light turns red while you are waiting in the intersection, you still complete the turn when the oncoming traffic stops, because you are already committed and legally in the intersection.

Right turns, and the corner you cannot see

A right turn looks simple and hides two problems. The first is the cyclist or the scooter coming up on your right, in a bike lane or in the gap between you and the curb. Signal early, check your right mirror and your blind spot before you begin the turn, and do not cut across a marked bike lane where the paint tells you to yield instead.

The second is the pedestrian stepping off the corner you are turning into, often walking toward you and out of the line of sight your windshield pillar leaves you. Turn your head. Keep the turn tight enough to stay in your own lane and end in the nearest lane going your direction, unless markings say otherwise.

Roundabouts

Traffic in a Canadian roundabout moves counter clockwise, and everyone entering yields to traffic already going around. That single rule solves most of it. Slow down on approach, look to your left, and enter when there is a gap. Never stop inside the circle once you are moving, and never try to pass another vehicle in there.

Lane choice is the part learners get wrong. Choose your lane before you enter, based on the signs and arrows on the approach, not on where you happen to be. As a general pattern, the right lane serves the first exits and going straight through, and the left lane serves the later exits and turning back the way you came, but the markings on the ground govern and multi lane roundabouts vary. Signal right as you pass the exit before the one you want, and do not signal left on the way in unless the markings ask for it.

Large trucks need the whole width of the circle and sometimes ride up onto the paved apron around the island, so give them space rather than tucking in beside them. Cyclists may take the full lane in a roundabout, which is the safest thing for them to do. People on foot cross at the marked crossings on each approach, outside the circle, and they are yielded to on the way in and on the way out.