Discussions

I heard on the news a couple weeks ago that Winnipeggers would not zipper merge either. They have the same sort of sign(s) set up somewhere in the city. I think it was around construction.  
 
One elderly man who was interviewed said that it would be good idea to teach it to the younger crowd to zipper merge, but that it would be too difficult for him & other old folks to learn it. What??  
 
Personally I think he was just lazy/stubborn/selfish. I bet that he would have been taught, at home in his younger days, how to be courteous and take turns...and cooperate. That is what families supposedly taught back then (and I would like to think now too). It really is NOT that hard to learn to zipper merge and I feel it is a good idea.  
 
Courtesy really has gone out the window these days. It is just an every man for himself mentality in our society now it seems. So sad.  
 
Maybe he had it somewhat correct about teaching the younger ones...but it needs to be taken back to toddlerhood. Teach courtesy, cooperation and to take turns...and keep on reinforcing that message as they grow. However, kids often will imitate what they readily see and hear before they listen to good instruction, and that means the adults in their lives might need to change as well. That could be a tough one...  
 
Edited by Flutterby, 2016-12-21 10:01:13

Adam said "One year later and maybe I've been at the wrong times but as far as anything I've seen there's been next to nil change in terms of left/right lane usage. Still lineups multiple blocks back in the left lane, still 3-4 cars at most in the right lane. Maybe at least the left lane lineup flows slightly faster than before with the detection loop addition to the intersection? "

People getting even more ignorant and rude about it lately.  
 
I watch as people give you dirty looks and purposely close the gap to ensure you cannot get in.  
 
And you don't have to use the excuse it is out of town drivers that won't let people in out of ignorance of the signs, I have yet to see a Saskatchewan plate do that, they always seem to be courteous from what I have witnessed.

If a traffic light goes out at any intersection in Brandon... These same rude people will consider an flashing amber light as a four way stop. Selfish and dangerous in one place, then just over the bridge... Stopping and being more dangerous to allow the cross traffic through at another. What the Hell, people! Stay consistent. Can't be a jerk before the bridge then courteous four blocks down. LOL  
 
Let's face it. No one will change. And if they do? By when that time happens... We'll have a new bridge with two lanes in both directions.  
 
Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

snowman5 said "If a traffic light goes out at any intersection in Brandon... These same rude people will consider an flashing amber light as a four way stop. Selfish and dangerous in one place, then just over the bridge... Stopping and being more dangerous to allow the cross traffic through at another. What the Hell, people! Stay consistent. Can't be a jerk before the bridge then courteous four blocks down. LOL     Let's face it. No one will change. And if they do? By when that time happens... We'll have a new bridge with two lanes in both directions.     Just my opinion, I could be wrong. "

These are the same people that refuse to stop at stop signs "because I will never get going again on the ice".  
 
Funny how people seem to pick and choose their traffic laws.  
 
Oy.

That is the whole issue with the problem. People see them as lane cutters, and not proper drivers on the road.

it is working better in general.  
 
There are two sides to the story about the competence of Brandon drivers.  
 
On Monday I was heading north, in the left lane, on 18th. Traffic was light. I was about the fifth vehicle in line. At Rosser Avenue, the young woman driving the car ahead of me, decided to pass the truck ahead of her. She completed the pass while going through the intersection, then then moved directly into the left lane. Luckily, the truck driver was very attentive and slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the car. I was just able to avoid hitting the truck.  
 
In the situation above, I think it would have been better for the truck to speed up a little to prevent the chain reaction. Why did that woman need to gain one vehicle length ? I am convinced that she ie blissfully unaware of the chain reaction she caused.  
 
I see this too often.

has an opinion on driving.  
 
I will be one to admit that at this time of year when a light is out at a MAJOR intersection(in other words flashing red or amber) I WILL STOP........PERIOD.  
 
I have watched people trying to get onto the major routes to NO AVAIL. Most of the time road conditions make it difficult to get moving. Not all of us have the luxury of all wheel or 4X4.  
 
Relax, chill out. I personally would rather see when a light gets wonky or goes out the default is a 4 way stop in Brandon.  
 
Brandon is not a city compared to Wpg.  
 
There is a difference when a light packs it in versus lights switching to flashing amber/red at a given time of day. Wpg has that. I have yet to see Brandon have that.  
 
So the flashing amber/red is NOT the normal in our city.  
 
This is my opinion and will be my opinion regardless what anyone thinks.  
 
Merry Christmas and Jesus loves us all.......  
 
:-)  
 
Shooterguy

If the light is flashing amber need to follow the rule and proceed with caution. The red flashing is stop. If all 4 are flashing red it is a 4 way. Any deviation from the Manitoba safety manual causes an unsafe hazard.

I constantly use the right lane and never have issues merging in use the signal and merge.

I hate the merge lane! People just don't follow the rules. I was in the left lane and let one person in the right lane through as I proceeded to go I had a truck come in right beside me from the right lane when he should have went behind me. I was honking my horn because he was literally beside me on the bridge and I had to pull almost into oncoming traffic just to let him through then at the light he was giving me the finger and getting mad at me! I let someone through he should have waited. I see this all the time. I wonder how many accidents have been caused. I just stay in the left lane because I find when I go in the right lane I wait for someone in the left lane to go through and no one ever lets you in! Or there's the idiots who are fed up waiting in the left lane and rush up to get to the merge lane and cut you off when it's suppose to be your turn! It's ridiculous how many idiots do this

Shooterguy, in every other community in Canada and the US, a flashing amber means to slow down and use caution, NOT stop. Even though you think that you are being cautious and defensive, you are creating a hazard for other drivers.  
 
Zipper Merge  
It would have been so much easier to lengthen the lights on 18th at Rosser and Princess than to implement the zipper merge. More traffic would get through on each light, and there would be less of a back log in traffic. Simple solution, yet so easily overlooked.

we all have opinions.  
 
The manual says this is what the rules of the road are. Sometimes we deviate from the rules.  
 
No different than speed limit signs. There are those who follow them bang on according to there speedometers. There are those who do 10-14 kms over.  
 
There are those who do not drive after drinking and there are those that take a chance.  
 
We have opinions. Mine, I choose to be courteous.  
 
If I am the person on the right, when I approach a stop sign at the same time as another vehicle, I may just wave you thru......  
 
and remember  
 
we all have an opinion. Some are right, some are wrong, and some are neither.  
 
Shooterguy out.......

What do opinions have to do with the rules of the road? You are admitting to breaking the rules of the road and putting the rest of us in danger because, in your opinion, you are being courteous.  
 
I slow down for a flashing amber light, I don't stop unless I have to, which is rare, at least outside of Brandon. If people treat the flashing amber lights as a 4 way stop, thinking that everyone is doing the same and going to stop, and proceed when it is unsafe to do so, then I'm probably going to hit them, and I won't be in the wrong!  
 
I guess that if it is ok to do so, in a person's opinion, regardless of the rules, then it is ok to do so. "I just killed a guy with a knife, but in my opinion, which overrides rules and the law, it was ok to do so! He deserved it."

Black Star said "If the light is flashing amber need to follow the rule and proceed with caution. The red flashing is stop. If all 4 are flashing red it is a 4 way. Any deviation from the Manitoba safety manual causes an unsafe hazard. "

I have been in Brandon for a course this past week. Monday the traffic on 18th in the left hand lane backed up to the point of blocking those of us trying to go west on Princess, even though the right hand lane is empty. I just shake my head. I was driving with my friend and suggested she try the zipper merge, and she said no, because no one lets her in.  
Having learned to drive in Edmonton, I find this so petty and rude I can't speak.

I had a very pleasant experience down there today, with the zipper merging, very smooth and impressive, considering all the traffic.

you want to merge you have to signal folks.

frivolouspink said "    Black Star said "If the light is flashing amber need to follow the rule and proceed with caution. The red flashing is stop. If all 4 are flashing red it is a 4 way. Any deviation from the Manitoba safety manual causes an unsafe hazard. " I have been in Brandon for a course this past week. Monday the traffic on 18th in the left hand lane backed up to the point of blocking those of us trying to go west on Princess, even though the right hand lane is empty. I just shake my head. I was driving with my friend and suggested she try the zipper merge, and she said no, because no one lets her in.   Having learned to drive in Edmonton, I find this so petty and rude I can't speak. "

I think maybe around 10% of the time, somebody doesn't let me in. That really isn't a problem, because if they speed up to block me then that leaves a big gap behind them for me to merge into.

I saw this today and immediately thought of this thread and 18th Street.  
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/canada/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/all-hail-the-zipper-merge-how-canadian-politeness-is-killing-the-efficiency-of-our-highways

JackAzz said "I saw this today and immediately thought of this thread and 18th Street.   http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/canada/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/all-hail-the-zipper-merge-how-canadian-politeness-is-killing-the-efficiency-of-our-highways "

The writer must of been to Brandon.

Got a ticket going through amber light....so stopping at all of them from now on.  
 
Want honk the horn for me not turning on amber arrow...go ahead. I can't afford the tickets.

Jovial said "Got a ticket going through amber light....so stopping at all of them from now on.     Want honk the horn for me not turning on amber arrow...go ahead. I can't afford the tickets. "

I think this post is for another thread. Doesn't seem to belong here, but, there is no offence for driving through a yellow light in Manitoba. Just a guess here but I'd say you went through a red light and got a ticket but are trying to justify your bad driving by saying the light was yellow when it wasn't. BTW, the definition of going through a red traffic light is when you enter an intersection and fail to get to the other side of the intersection before the light turns red.

I'm not stupid like you seem to think so, it was yellow from what I saw...the ticket was written out for a yellow light. No way could have stopped in time either. Never had a ticket before. But people are typically morons for assuming the worse...  
 
Anyhow, I just remembered reading something about people going through red and amber lights, so thought I share that. Excuse me for having upset you, lol.

I'm sorry if my tone sounded like I was upset. Nothing could be further from the truth and I would never call someone stupid. Trust me, I feel your pain. I can't afford traffic tickets either. I was just saying and am still saying that your issue belongs on another thread, not the 18th Street zipper merge thread and, going through a yellow light in Manitoba is not an offence. You might have to read your ticket. I believe it will say "disregard traffic control device, namely red traffic light. When you go to court to either pay your fine or plead no guilty, you will have a chance to see the police officers notes. Again, I'm guessing here but I'd say that the notes will say that the light was yellow and changed red even before you entered the intersection.

Yes it is illegal to run a yellow, the only light you are legally allowed to enter the intersection on is a green. Yellow means do not enter the intersection, or exit the intersection if your already waiting to turn ... and no it does not mean speed up !!

My apologies as well, it's difficult to determine tone in text sometimes. You just came off as...unpleasant. I know the ticket simply stated something about yellow light, nothing about red. If it was red, and I'm certain it was not, then it was definitely a mistake on my part. All-in-all it has made me paranoid. And I know the car behind me later that day was pissed I didn't turn left on yellow  
Anyhow, I was also positive I read a couple of arguments on this thread in regards to that....not reading through them again though, so consider the matter dropped. have a good evening

Just so you know Jovial and Ried;  
 
This is from the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act section 88. There is no offence for going through a yellow light. The only offence is where you enter on a yellow light and fail to get to the far side of the intersection by the time the light turns red. You are therefore going through a red light. This is what the act says;  
 
Yellow traffic control light or arrow at intersection  
88(5) When a yellow or amber traffic control light or arrow is being shown at an intersection by a traffic control signal following or accompanying a green traffic control light,  
(a) the driver of a vehicle at or approaching the intersection and facing the light or arrow shall not enter the intersection, unless he can leave it before a red traffic control light or such other signal as next follows, begins to be shown;  
 
I also know that Brandon Police do not charge people just because they couldn't get the the far side of the intersection before the light turns red. The standard for a charge of going through a red light is the offender enters the intersection before the light turns red. The red light cameras in Winnipeg are the source of much heart acke

Just so you know Jovial and Ried;  
 
This is from the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act section 88. There is no offence for going through a yellow light. The only offence is where you enter on a yellow light and fail to get to the far side of the intersection by the time the light turns red. You are therefore going through a red light. This is what the act says;  
 
Yellow traffic control light or arrow at intersection  
88(5) When a yellow or amber traffic control light or arrow is being shown at an intersection by a traffic control signal following or accompanying a green traffic control light,  
(a) the driver of a vehicle at or approaching the intersection and facing the light or arrow shall not enter the intersection, unless he can leave it before a red traffic control light or such other signal as next follows, begins to be shown;  
 
I also know that Brandon Police do not charge people just because they couldn't get the the far side of the intersection before the light turns red. The standard for a charge of going through a red light is the offender fails to even enter the intersection before the light turns red.  
 
Even the red light cameras in Winnipeg that is the source of much frustration for us in Manitoba, are set to not record an offence unless the driver fails to stop before entering the intersection when the light turns red.  
 
Please, please, I am not trying to argue or to be harsh. I just want the ebrandon people to know what is true and what is fiction. There is no offence for going through a yellow light in Manitoba.

not to take the discussion of track but FYI many officers dont actually write tickets correctly, there is lots to the HTA and sometimes they too get it wrong so it sounds like imo that either the ticket was written wrong in which case you could have appealed or the wording is being red wrong, just for info here is the part of the HTA that deals with amber lights  
 
Yellow traffic control light or arrow at intersection  
s. 88(5)  
 
88(5) When a yellow or amber traffic control light or arrow is being shown at an intersection by a traffic control signal following or accompanying a green traffic control light,  
s. 88(5)  
 
(a) the driver of a vehicle at or approaching the intersection and facing the light or arrow shall not enter the intersection, unless he can leave it before a red traffic control light or such other signal as next follows, begins to be shown: and ....  
 
Edited by traveller, 2017-01-26 20:28:21