A close call between two vehicles at a busy Vancouver intersection has raised plenty of eyebrows since dashcam footage that captured the near-collision was posted online.
The 10 seconds of footage, uploaded on Reddit Friday, shows cars nearing the intersection of Kingsway and Slocan Street in Vancouver. According to the time stamp on the video uploaded by user ‘mistymystery,’ the incident may have occurred back in January.
As the light turns yellow, a minivan can be seen in the middle of the intersection. But just as the van begins to merge into the outside lane, a yellow taxi drives through the intersection, the two vehicles nearly colliding.
To make the footage more nerve-wracking, a pedestrian can be seen standing at the corner waiting to cross the street. They quickly move out of the way, as the taxi is forced to swerve toward them.
Fortunately, the taxi stops before driving onto the sidewalk. The taxi stops for less than a second before straightening back into the lane and continuing to drive.
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According to B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act, it isn’t specifically illegal to merge within an intersection. While most driving schools will not recommend the often-dangerous move, the vehicle act prohibits lane changes when doing so is unsafe or will affect the travel of another vehicle.
If there is no traffic in or near the intersection, the lane change would be allowed as solid lines are not usually painted within intersections, according to DriveSmartBC.
The laws around yellow lights are equally as murky. In layman’s terms, before crossing the line or entering an intersection, all drivers must stop if it’s safe to do so, according to BC Driving Lawyers.
Roughly 87,000 accidents occur each year at intersections across the province, ICBC statistics show.
@ashwadhwani
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