The 5 most Commonly Broken Driving Rules
There's some traffic laws thatget broken all the timebecause people don't really think of them as serious laws. Most people call them tax grabs, but how many taxes can you get out of completely just by obeying the law? You'll also avoid those painful insurance hikes if you drive safely and don't get traffic tickets. If you follow the law on these 5 commonly broken driving rules, you'll be sure to hang onto more of your hard-earned money.
Speeding
This is by far the most common traffic ticket issued. Just about everyone you know has done it!
Just like all the other laws listed here, most people don't really think of speeding as breaking the law. Maybe you're just running a little late. Maybe you hate to waste time. Maybe you think the speed limit's ridiculously low, butbe honest. No matter what the speed limit is, you'd probably try to go a little faster, right?
It's against the law because speed's a major factor in collisions. The faster you go, the harder it is for you to stay in control, and the harder you'll hit if you don't. You're not just putting yourself at risk.
The problem is that everyone thinks that he's good enough to get away with it. You're the safe driver. It's the rest of the world that's nuts.
Small-scale speeding's usually just a couple of demerit points and a fine. If it's habitual and you get caught a lot, you'll start getting into real trouble because demerit points add up. Pile up enough of them and they'll yank your licence.
In some places, the law also adjusts the punishment to the level of speeding. If you're going over 50 kph above the posted speed limit in Ontario, Canada, that's considered street racing and falls understunt driving. That's an automatic licence suspension, a really painful fine, and maybe jail time.
A lot of times, a speed trap's set up so that you can't see it ahead of time. That's the point. If you can't see the waiting police car in time to slow down below the speed limit, you're also not going to be able to see anything in that area in time to stop. If word gets out that there's a speed trap in a place, drivers will start to slow down before they see the police car. There's no tickets, and the traffic speed's down as well. That's the best outcome of all!
Failure to stop
Drivers don't stop at red lights, stop signs,streetcars, and even for schoolbuses. What if it was your kid on that bus?
What happens most often is that the driver treats the stop sign like a yield sign. There's a bit of a slowdown, just in case, and then the driver speeds right back up again. It's called a rolling stop, and it's against the law.
Cyclists also do this a lot. It's still not right, but at least they've got the excuse of having to get all that momentum back up again. Coming to a full stop's a lot easier for a driver.
In places that look deserted, many drivers don't even bother with the rolling stop. They just go right on through, without even slowing down. That could have tragic consequences.
Failure to stop's a big one in the ticket books. If nothing else happened because you didn't stop, you'll probably get away with demerit point loss and a fine. If you caused an accident, you'll get hit with more than that. If you hurt or killed someone, you're going to jail.
A close second, which doesn't get anywhere near as many tickets as it deserves, is failure to pull over for ambulances and other emergency vehicles.There's no excuses for that.
Improper turns
Everyone who passed driver's ed knows the right way to make a turn, complete with signalling. Of course you've checked first to see if the intersection allows turns at all, right? Even if you're really used to a route, the same intersection during rush hours can have different turning rules during rush hours and off hours.
There's a lot of creative drivers out there constantly coming up with different ways to make an improper turn. The frontrunner favourites are turning from the wrong lane and turning where you're not allowed to turn. A car getting stranded wrong-way around on a one-way street during rush hour isn't fun for anyone.
Failure to signal's also part of improper turning. The car behind you has to know what you're about to do!
A lot of people don't bother to signal when switching lanes or making turns. Maybe it's a last-second decision on their part, and signalling takes too long. But if it's last-second for you, it's less than that for the driver behind you or the driver you're about to cut off. If you don't have time to signal, he certainly doesn't have time to react!
This one's mostly fines, although some places will dock demerit points as well. Of course, your insurance will take a hit as well, the same as breaking any of these or other laws.
Distracted and dangerous driving
Just about every place has a rule about dangerous driving. That's a huge catchall. It covers everything from aggressive driving to the persontrying to read the newspaper while driving. Distractions take your eyes and mind off the road for seconds at a time. Even at city speeds, you cover a lot of distance during that second!
Drivers like to fight this one in court. They'll often win, because so much rests on the officer's judgement and it's hard to prove in a court of law. That doesn't make aggressive driving any less dangerous.
Cell phones
More and more places are making laws which specifically make it illegal to use a cell phone while driving. It's no longer just a catchall under dangerous driving. That includes texting, and "driving" means anywhere your car is in traffic, even if that traffic isn't moving at the moment.
It's against the law because many studies have shown that driving while talking on a cell phone is just as distracting as driving drunk. If you're on a cell phone and you're trying to do something else as well, you might as well take your eyes off the road entirely for the amount of attention you're paying to it.
Even where handheld cell phones are against the law while driving, you're still allowed to use a handsfree cell phone. Those are starting to become really hot Christmas items. Most new cars come with handsfree technology as standard.
