STOP/YIELD for Bus, new law for Ontario

As of Friday January 2, 2004 there is a new province (Ontario) wide law that requires drivers to give right of way to buses coming out of bus bays or needing to change lanes while returning to traffic after a bus stop. Otherwise, the fine is set to $90. However police are expected to give warnings for a period of time to allow public to gain awareness and adjust.

This is to speed up TTC service and provide a measure of safety regarding buses trying to merge with long lines of fast moving traffic.
(Taken from the Toronto Star)

GOOD.

This is for people that honk me when I stop and yield to a bus.

Why wouldn't you yield for a vehicle that is more than 5 time your mass. You would if it was a person, face to face.

I always did that anyway! So i wont have any trouble doingt hat. i think i do that because i always took the bus for about 6 years, so i know how it feels to be cut off, or late for a transfer because no one respects the bus's!

pretty good law.
There are 30 people in a bus usually and 2 in a car. now who should have right of the way!?

I have been doing that, stoping and flashing my high beams for the bus. they usually get surprised!

That's how it has been in Montreal for years.

I love this new law. I take the bus everyday. There are always some ass that won't stop for the bus even if they should.

After this law was enforced this week, I do feel the difference. Most car just yield the bus, and this save me time on the bus too!

I agree with the previous posts. It's common courtesy and I have always allowed buses in for years as long as they are in front of me and it is safe to so. Sometimes you even get a friendly wave from the driver.

On the negative side I don't like the 'government' telling me yet again what to do for my quote 'own betterment'.

And on the lighter side I can picture the mechanics of this process. You don't let the bus in. The cop pulls you over to issue a ticket. Now not only is the bus stuck behind you and the cop, so is an entire lane of traffic which carries collectively more people than the bus. The bus driver now has to try and get in yet another lane but this time a lane of frustrated drivers who may no longer feel polite..

By the way I live on Burnamthorpe and there are a few Mississauga buses that stop along the way not to mention Islington station where there are also GO buses. Am I to ignore those as they're not TTC per the original post?

Those bicycle drivers at City hall are something else.

Just some thoughts and I'll keep giving way regardless.

Cheers Tony

As far as I can recall, all Mississauga Transit busses have a yield sign at the rear.

It says PLEASE YIELD simply as a suggestion.

So do all TTC buses...

I think this aplies to all buses. The TTC ones were just probably used as an example cause they stop/are used more frequently.

And I heard that they're gonna be either adding or replacing the "PLEASE YIELD" sign to something else.

Oh.. and thanks for the notice. I'll change the title and take out the 'TTC' from there.

This is a good law, and in other countries it's a norm to yield to the mass transit vehicles.

Ya but were a buncha jerks as a whole, allways in a hurry to go nowhere I find.

FYI though, expect this not to be enforced...and I mean, not even warnings issued.

Does politely accelerating around the bus to make enough room for the big bus with your hand on the horn while flipping the bird count as yielding? Good, 'cause I already do that.

Hamilton buses have already updated their please yeild to YEILD!

why wont it be enforced Jon?

I'll still be a prick about it, I won't let any bus in front of me, than I'll have to go 2 blocks behind a bus, and then when he gets to his next stop, there is always someone that parks in the area that the bus goes to let out people, so the bus stays in the middle of the road, and I'll have to go another 2 blocks behind the bus....I don't have time for that.

Even though yesterday i bus driver threw me onto on coming traffic. Because his signal wasn't on. I to have always given buses the right of was because if anyone get s cut off by a bus they have a very good chance of being held responsible for it.

Chaulk up another stupid law to an already huge list. I forsee accidents taking place as people 'suddenly remember' to stop, and therefore slam on there brakes causing themselves to get hit from behind. I can't wait until the summer where someone in the left hand land (not sure of the law) slams on their brakes for a bus, and I go over my handlebars into their backseat.

Yeah, that's all you need, is to come over the handlebars again.

Let me know how one would do that "come over the handlebars..." and I'll try to avoid it.

Hmm havn't noticed anything like that so far? I guess that cause i've been out of a job for about two weeks and i havn't been out much. Stupid no job-ness.

I think that this is an okay law as long as it's not abused. I ran into the same law while driving in Vancouver and found that the bus drivers out there don't signal very often while pulling into another lane or just into traffic period. I am pretty certain it was due to their knowledge that they had right of way.

Maybe not but you can expect it to become an issue at the scene of an accident in such a situation.

It's just common sense guys. You see the bus has it's blinker on you check and see if you can slow down and let him in. There's no reason that shouldn't be a law. Ya the government is really going overboard on this one :rolleyes:

Steve there's already a hundred reasons why the person in front of you could slam on thier brakes. You should always count on it happening and keep enough distance to react, esspecially on a bike.