The residents of Ontario should consider themselves lucky. None of them have to feel guilty about stopping at a yellow light. As per the rules, stop if you can do so safely. If you cannot stop, you must proceed with caution. But if you drive through a yellow light and get hit, you can be declared at fault. And that would need the assistance of a personal injury lawyer in Burlington.

Proper position of an automobile at an amber light

An intersection with an amber light will have a line, one at which vehicles should stop, if the light’s color is not green. However, if the amber color is showing, a driver wanting to make a left-hand turn can pass that same line. Having passed that line, the same driver must wait for a chance to make a left-hand turn.

The driver that has passed that named line does not have a right of way, in order to clear the lane that he or she happens to be in. If, however, all the oncoming cars, trucks, vans and SUVs have come to a stop, then that same driver does have a right of way. By exercising that right of way, the same driver would make the lane clear.

Ontario’s left-hand turn rules

If a collision takes place while some vehicle is making a left-hand turn, the driver of that same vehicle should be declared at fault. In most cases, the oncoming vehicle has the right of way.

Exceptions: times when oncoming vehicle does not have right of way

If no part of the vehicle’s body can be seen by any of the vehicles in the approaching intersection, the oncoming car, van, truck or SUV does not have an automatic right or way. If the oncoming driver has increased his or her speed, and the same driver has failed to stop at any posted sign or signal, the person sitting behind that speeding vehicle’s steering wheel does not have the right of way.

Why these rules should make pedestrians happy

Any driver’s common sense would appreciate the wisdom behind going forward at sensible speed. That makes it easier to stop at a yellow light or to acknowledge the right of way that has been given to another driver. Hence, there would be less chance that a speeding automobile might hit a pedestrian.

Pedestrians should also appreciate the statement about any vehicle that cannot be seen by those in an intersection. It does not have an automatic right of way. That makes life safer, for pedestrians that cannot see all the approaching traffic from a given intersection.