Pride

Here I'll cover the questions I am proud of knowing, to show you how wonderful a driver I am:

Did you know you can legally turn left at a red light?

I did. You can only do it if you're going from a 1 way road onto another 1 way road. This used to be a regular feature of my commute home from Intuit, as the exit ramp from Whitemud onto Calgary Trail is exactly that situation. The top of Walterdale Hill as you approach from the High Level Bridge also used to be like that, but I saw today that there is now an explicit "no left turn on red" sign. Presumably because people were getting confused and "turning left" onto Saskatchewan Drive, rather than the curb-hugging "real" left down the hill.

Traffic circles:

The bane of many a driver in this city as they are uncommon and no-one seems to understand them. Edmonton used to have more because a one-time traffic planner saw their utility, but since so few people understood them they didn't work as planned and most of them have been removed. There's one just North of Bonnie Doon Mall where it is at its best, bringing together 5 roads. Further North, at 98 ave & 85 st there is another, and there's also one at 142 st & 107 ave. I think that's all that remain in Edmonton now. There's a remnant of one on Groat Road at 118 ave, visible in the aerial view or in the unique nature of the intersections. My parents grew up in England, where traffic circles (or "roundabouts") are common and thus they knew how to navigate them. They passed this knowledge on to me and I revel in it to this day. The basics are simple and appeared in the Edmonton Journal years back in their then-regular traffic/driving column. Here are a couple of pages describing what to do. Most people I talk to who aren't familiar with traffic circles from elsewhere will proffer this explanation:

If you're going one exit, stay in the right lane.

If you're going 2 or more exits around, go to the left lane.

These statements aren't wrong, but they aren't "the rules". They're more like best practices. The actual rules are really quite simple:

    1. You cannot change lines while in the circle
    2. Drivers must always yield to other drivers to their left (inside). i.e. if you're in the outer lane, you must yield to someone in the inner lane trying to leave (which would involve them crossing in front of you in the outer lane).

Well, that's enough ego stroking, you now know that I'm the best driver you've ever met.