When driving, certain basic rules ensure the safety of other road users. Those rules must be obeyed at all times. Sharing the road with other users means obeying the Highway Safety Code. Everyone can learn to share the road!
Duty of Care
All road users have a duty, especially toward more vulnerable users, to be careful and considerate when travelling on a public road.
Drivers of road vehicles have a duty to show extra care toward more vulnerable users, such as people with reduced mobility, pedestrians and cyclists.
Vulnerable users, for their part, have a duty to adopt behaviours that enhance their own safety.
Everyone Has a Role to Play in Sharing the Road
On the road network, watching out for others and respecting the rules are very important to avoid conflict and collisions.
Many actions that facilitate road sharing are actually required by the Highway Safety Code, such as:
using your turn signal lights or hand signals (as a cyclist)
yielding the right of way when obligated to do so
avoiding honking for no reason
cutting off another vehicle
avoiding stopping on the pedestrian crosswalk at an intersection
Properly sharing the road means...
treating other road users with respect and tolerance, whether they be other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists
raising a hand to thank someone who made things easier for you
making a sorry gesture when you make an error to prevent conflict
keeping your cool under all circumstances
keeping a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you
leaving enough space for cyclists and pedestrians
Tailgating is an offence under the Highway Safety Code that can lead to:
a fine of $100 to $200
2 demerit points
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Garder ses distances (keep your distance) (in French only)
When another vehicle passes you
If another vehicle is passing you, or about to pass you, don’t speed up! Doing so is prohibited by the Highway Safety Code and can lead to a fine of $200 to $300 and 2 demerit points. Out of courtesy, you can slow down to make it easier for the other vehicle to pass.
Signaling your intentions is mandatory
Signaling your intentions is not an option but an obligation. It lets other road users know what you are planning to do, such as turn, change lanes, pass another road user, etc. Even when you are riding a bike, you are obligated to signal your intentions, unless you are unable to safely do so.
Not signaling your intentions is an offence under the Highway Safety Code that can lead to:
a fine of $100 to $200 for the driver of a road vehicle
a fine of $80 to $100 for a cyclist
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Signaler ses intentions (signal your intentions) (in French only)
Slowing down in urban and living environments
Urban areas are also living environments, and roads are public spaces used by residents. A significant proportion of accidents on municipal roads involving pedestrians and cyclists occur in urban areas. It is therefore essential to try and slow down for the safety of vulnerable road users.
Sharing the road with a cyclist
Keep your distance. The Highway Safety Code requires that you slow down and keep a distance between your vehicle and the cyclist of:
1 metre in zones of 50 km/h or less
1.5 metres in zones of more than 50 km/h
If you cannot respect these conditions, you are prohibited from passing in the same lane.
The Highway Safety Code authorizes you to cross a solid line to pass a cyclist, if you can do so safely.
Anticipate a cyclist's movements. Cyclists sometimes have to make last-minute manoeuvres to avoid obstacles.
Before opening your door, check your side rearview mirrors to make sure no cyclists are riding behind the vehicle. Get into the habit of opening the door with the opposite hand. That way, you can see whether a cyclist is in your blind spot before opening the door.
Be careful at intersections: cyclists are sometimes hidden by other vehicles.
Yield the right of way to cyclists crossing the lane you are about to turn into.
Don't honk when you are near cyclists. You may startle them, which may cause them to make a false move.
Passing a cyclist without slowing down or when there isn’t a reasonable distance of 1 m or 1.5 m
This is an offence under the Highway Safety Code that can lead to:
a fine of $200 to $300
2 demerit points
Sharing the road with pedestrians
When approaching a pedestrian, you must slow down and keep the following distance between your vehicle and the pedestrian:
1 m in zones of 50 km/h or less
1.5 m in zones of more than 50 km/h
At pedestrian crosswalks, you must stop your vehicle as soon as a pedestrian enters the crosswalk or clearly indicates the intention to do so. This is the case, for example, when:
the pedestrian is waiting on the sidewalk next to the pedestrian crosswalk
the pedestrian makes a hand gesture indicating the desire to cross
you have made eye contact with the pedestrian
It is preferable to make a hand gesture to let pedestrians who wish to cross know you have seen them.
Yield the right of way to pedestrians at intersections and be especially careful before turning right on a red light.
Keep your headlights on, especially in low-visibility weather conditions, to make sure you can see and be seen.
Not giving pedestrians the right of way at an intersection
This is an offence under the Highway Safety Code that can lead to:
a fine of $100 to $200
2 demerit points
Sharing the road with heavy vehicles
Leave more space than usual when you stop behind a heavy vehicle. When the heavy vehicle driver takes his or her foot off the brake in order to engage the clutch, the vehicle may move backward if it is carrying a heavy load.
Leave a heavy vehicle with enough space to turn and don’t cut off the driver before he or she has finished making the turn. When turning right, the driver may have to first veer to the left, which may be confusing.
Avoid positioning yourself in a heavy vehicle’s blind spots, especially at intersections. If you can’t see the driver’s rear-view mirrors, the driver can’t see you either.
If you are in front of a heavy vehicle, make sure you leave enough space between you and the heavy vehicle and signal your intentions ahead of time. Heavy vehicles need a lot of space to brake.
When you pass a heavy vehicle, beware of the air turbulence it can cause. Plan for more time and space than it would take to pass an automobile.
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Le partage de la route avec les véhicules lourds (sharing the road with heavy vehicles) (in French only)
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Les jeunes conducteurs et la sécurité routière (young drivers and road safety) (in French only)
Sharing the road with school buses
The greatest risks to a child’s safety are found outside the school bus and come from either the bus itself or the surrounding traffic.
When a school bus turns on its flashing lights or deploys its stop sign, you must stop at least 5 metres from the bus, whether you are travelling in the same direction or approaching from the opposite direction.
Offenders face:
a fine of $200 to $300
9 demerit points
Exception
You are not required to stop when you are approaching a school bus that is in a lane separated from yours by a median.
Sharing the road with emergency vehicles
You must yield the right of way to any emergency vehicle whose sound-producing device or lights are in operation. It is important to stay calm, locate the emergency vehicle, slow down, pull over as far to the right as possible and, if necessary, stop.
Offenders face:
a fine of $200 to $300
4 demerit points
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Que faire en présence d'un véhicule d'urgence (what to do around emergency vehicles)
The Move-Over Law
When an emergency vehicle, a tow truck or a surveillance vehicle is stopped and its arrow light or its rotating or flashing lights are activated, you must:
slow down and move over as far as possible from the stopped vehicle, but only once you have made sure you can do so safely
if necessary, stop your vehicle so as to not jeopardize the lives or safety of others
Offenders face:
a fine of $200 to $300
4 demerit points
How to deal with an aggressive driver
A driver is tailgating you
Let that person pass.
If you are in the left lane, move over to the right lane, provided you can do so safely.
Look straight ahead. It’s important to keep your eyes on the road and not on the driver tailgating you.
Don’t react to provocation, flashing headlights or honking. You will avoid increasing the tension between you and the other driver.
Someone gets out of a vehicle and comes toward you
Stay in your vehicle, roll up the windows and lock the doors.
Don’t respond, whether verbally or with gestures.
If the other person begins hitting your vehicle, breathe deeply and figure out how you can drive away safely. Drive calmly to an area where you will be able to get help.
Avoid going home. If an aggressive driver is following you, it is better that they do not find out where you live.
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