With traffic comes the cost of extra gas being wasted idling in traffic and the constant stop and go that comes with traffic. In my web searches today I found this picture I found quite funny with our current gas situation.

Gas companies must really be telling us to assume this position:

No matter what we do and how many “stop buying gas for the day” emails go around, this will always be the case.

A common trend I seem to be noticing more and more lately is people going through yellow / red lights that are turning left. Now at times I understand theres some other guy who wants to show off how he can run the yellow light which prevents the left turner from turning until it is red, but some people just take it to far.

You always see two guys at the lights, one in the intersection and one just past the white line. They should go even when its turning yellow to red since they are past the white line.

But for some unknown reason the guy behind the white line (the third vehicle) decides to go as well. He’s well behind the line, the light is pretty much hitting red and his impatient derriere decides to go making the people about to get a green the other way have to wait for his impatient a$$ to complete his turn. Not only does this prevent the number of people with advanced greens going the other way of getting through, it just backlogs traffic even more.

Speaking of advanced greens, this “phenomenom” also happens with people on advanced greens. You know the guy he sees the advanced green symbol turn yellow and he’s still pretty far back from the line and he guns it to still go even though he doesnt have an advanced green anymore. Another impatient driver preventing the other side from going when they get the green light.

This happened to me once where a person turned left when the advanced green clearly had ended. My side had a green light for at least a second when he decided to turn left. And guess what happened? He gets stuck in the intersection because of backlog in the left lane he’s turning into. So not only does he go when he shouldnt, he has now also made our whole side not able to go on the green because he decides to go when he doesnt have a green turn light. And then as people honked at him to show him he clearly made a stupid move, he honks back and gets mad. Damn you BMW X3!

Today I experienced something I just had to write about. It happens so often and its so frustrating.

Whenever I travel to work I pass a Tim Hortons plaza with a few other places. The line up is always large at this Tim Hortons and people are always taking their cars and sitting through the what seems hour long line up.

Now thats fine let them sit, but then its these same people who fumble around with their coffee cup trying to open it or drink it while driving and trying to turn onto the main road. Don’t drink and drive! Even your coffee cup!

As they fumble, they seemingly love to turn onto the road at a lesiurely 20 km/hr while everyone who was going the speed limit of 60 km/hr has to slam on their brakes not to hit them!

You would think they would speed up quickly to the speed limit to not annoy everyone? WRONG! They accelerate to the speed limit just as slow…

It’s like this:

turn onto the street…
accelerate to 20… tick tock tick tock…
25 tick tock tick tock tick tock 35 tick tock
45 tick tock tick tock 50

and then they sit at 50 and then must have a miracle happen and realize damn its 60 here… tick tock tick tock they finally reach to 60 meanwhile the whole traffic has just backlogged for their master skilled driving

Why does this happen? has the caffeine from the coffee cup not kicked in yet? Are they still sleepy or does the daily visit to the Tim Hortons never make them realize how they are driving? hmmm

Could this be the next traffic causer?

Thanks to member g95pteg for posting this warning about the Peel Police Region cracking down on:

• Speeding
• Improper turns / lane changes
• Aggressive driving actions
• Vehicle safety checks for passenger and commercial vehicles
• Impaired Drivers

Link to Forum Post:

I noticed on the weekend as well, an increase in police cars on the highways and the now famous sign you will probably see:

Be careful everyone!

Today I was just doing some searching on highways and thought, what would come up in google if you typed in “busiest highway in north america”.

Does our GTA Traffic really suck? Or do we just complain for no reason, with many other places having it worse.

Ok so open Google in a new window.

Done that?

Now type in “busiest highway in north america”.

Look at the top 10 results.

8 out of 10 results show the following text or some variation of it:

I guess the 401 traffic does really suck.

Just look at this video as some proof of our traffic situation

Today’s rant comes from the misuse of turn signals! They were created on cars for one reason - for them to be used!

I don’t know why some people feel it is their given right to not use their turn signals! It’s really simple to turn on the signal, make your lane change and turn it off. Why is this so hard? Maybe cars have some sort of malfunction with their turn signals? Check out this little joke I found about BMW’s recalling their malfunctioning turn signals:

Reports of turn signal failures with all BMW’s

Just brilliant whoever created this graphic. To this day I still find it funny and still find it to be true while I’m on the roads. Now I don’t want to single out BMW owners only. Everyone does it, including those big SUV’s who really should be signalling the most. If they don’t signal and come in your lane on the highway. I don’t care what “car” you are driving, your done. Learn to signal! It just makes sense and lessens the chance of accidents!

Oh and for those people who see a turn signal and purposely speed up to block the person from getting into your lane! Your just as much part of the problem! Why you guys think you own the road as well? I will never know.

This introduction to the movie Office Space is probably the best way to just describe many peoples drive in to work. Such a funny intro.

• The guy switching lanes back and forth only to get farther back in the traffic.
• The driver pumping his music through the traffic
• The frustrated driver ready to hit somebody to make the traffic move faster. His seat just shakes way too much in the movie to look half safe.

And look at how the old man keeps up with his traffic at his ultra slow 0.01 km / hr speed. So true how my daily drive feels at times. I wanna get out and ride a scooter to work!!

Check out the clip, and if it doesnt remind you of the highway traffic situation here in Toronto, I don’t know what does.

While looking around the site you’ll notice the blog, traffic resources page and forum.

Keep tuned to this blog for my views on the GTA Traffic situation, and the strange happenings of traffic in general.

Have your own opinions? That’s where the forum comes in. Sign up and start posting your own thoughts on the traffic situation. The forum is sectioned off by Highways, City Driving and a general discussion area to post anything that’s on your mind.

Have some comments for us at the GTA Traffic Sucks team? Leave us some comments in the Comments & Suggestions Category.

The GTA Traffic Sucks site was made for people to blow off some steam about driving through the wonderful morning traffic. If you’re a traveller in the GTA and you don’t live 5 minutes from your work, you know what I’m talking about.

A normal drive on the highway should take you 20 minutes to get into work, but one car is pulled off to the side and the whole highway becomes a standstill. Your 20 minute drive becomes 1 hour.

Anyone and everyone who takes the highway in prime time has dealt with this. You accelerate to 20 km / hr just to brake once again. There’s no way around it. You take the side roads - it takes just as long! You stay on the highway and your stuck.

Grab a coffee relax and vent in our Forum about anything and everything you experience.

Dennis Leary in his song “a$$hole” is the perfect saying of how I think some of the drivers that frustrate everyone think: