greencard holder visiting Canda

[trailmix 77]

last time I was in Canada,they had what was called as "SIGNS" and they state the speed!! They are a very new invention!!

Sometimes they aren't posted you cheeky .... flames person

Edited September 8, 2008 by trailmix

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

On that note, you wouldn't believe how many signs we've missed when my husband and I were driving in Canada, and how many times we've gotten lost and almost in accidents because of it!

Personally, I think that signs in Canada, compared to the signs in the USA, are:

-Too "not there": "Where's the sign telling me which speed I'm supposed to drive at?"

-Too infrequent: "I just missed the sign telling me where the next entrance/exit number is."

-Too small, both size-wise and writing-wise: "Did I just see a sign go by? Or was I imagining things?"

-Too unspecific/unclear: "Does the sign say the lane ends in front or am I in that lane already?"

-Too often placed in the wrong place: "The sign says the attraction is here. Where is the attraction?"

You would think that a country that charges so much in taxes they would at least do something to improve their road signs! Oh well, thank goodness I drive in the USA now, even though I don't mind the extra challenge of driving in Canada when I visit there.

Between looking for barely-existing signs, looking out for traffic, looking at the speedometer, looking out for crazy drivers on the road...Yup, that's an accident waiting to happen!

The bottom line: Regardless of where you are driving, in whatever country/location: always be careful, drive safe, and always be aware of your surroundings...

Ant (Driving safely, especially in Canada...)

[lethimrace 5]

Ant thank you very very much for the informations and help. thank you everyone too.

i will be taking an airplane to vancouver. but on the way back, my husband will pick me up in vancouver for a road trip.

cc

[antda 13]

Ant thank you very very much for the informations and help. thank you everyone too.

i will be taking an airplane to vancouver. but on the way back, my husband will pick me up in vancouver for a road trip.

cc

[antda 13]

You're welcome, imaskin....

Glad to help (though I hope you didn't mind the humour in between posts...)

I hope you and your husband have a great time in Canada! It sounds like fun that you'll be taking an airplane trip and a road trip too!

Enjoy your trip! Welcome to Canada!

Ant

Ant thank you very very much for the informations and help. thank you everyone too.

i will be taking an airplane to vancouver. but on the way back, my husband will pick me up in vancouver for a road trip.

cc

[thetreble 19]

On that note, you wouldn't believe how many signs we've missed when my husband and I were driving in Canada, and how many times we've gotten lost and almost in accidents because of it!

Personally, I think that signs in Canada, compared to the signs in the USA, are:

-Too "not there": "Where's the sign telling me which speed I'm supposed to drive at?"

-Too infrequent: "I just missed the sign telling me where the next entrance/exit number is."

-Too small, both size-wise and writing-wise: "Did I just see a sign go by? Or was I imagining things?"

-Too unspecific/unclear: "Does the sign say the lane ends in front or am I in that lane already?"

-Too often placed in the wrong place: "The sign says the attraction is here. Where is the attraction?"

As someone who worked in transportation/signals and signs for the canadian government, and has a father who is a traffic engineer in Ontario for 35 years now, I will have to disagree. This is not a Canada VS America argument like some may try to pick up on, in reality it is the way from experience that I know.

1. Signs where I come from in Canada are large, very directional with actual street names instead of their county or regional road numbers.

2. I just drove to delaware on sunday and it took me an extra 30 minutes to find out where my friend lived because there were often no street signs at all to indicate what street I was one. It really depends on where you live in both Canada and the US. The more remote the location is, the less people they have working on such things as signage.

3. Here in NJ people are crazy to buy a brand new car. The roads are so full of pot holes and often take years to fill. In Canada because of our tax dollars, we are more quick to do road maintanence that can save you so much money per year from not having to do car repairs.

4. This one is HUGE. I worked in traffic systems for years in which I helped to make sure the traffic signals in our region were run LIVE time. In Ontario, most regions and cities have traffic engineers who have massive computer systems and programs that study live data to increase or decrease the amount of seconds on green/yellow/red lights in order to move traffic along. We have emergency detour routes in the 401 that took such a long time to put together. Detour routes in the US are never clear, even on major interstates!! I often wait 5 minutes after 10pm at night in my town at a red light because they run the same time AM, Afternoon and PM. They are programmed to run the same time 24 hours a day by a computer that is put into the cement posts. This causes huge traffic backups and just overall craziness for me and others.

5. Traffic lights in New Jersey towns are often at the sides of intersections instead of overhead so that you can see them clearly. There are many intersections where you actually stop PAST the traffic light which is on your right hand side.

All in all, from a person's perspective that has worked in this field (and now again for the state of new jersey) since the age of 16, I can honestly say that I don't know where you are from in Canada but I find in incredibly easier to drive there. Living on the urban east coast, and 20 minutes away from NYC, driving is incredibly confusing because of lack of/poor signage.

[trailmix 77]

I don't know if it's easier or harder to drive here, but what you just said treble reminded me that they have this really weird thing here in Lake Mary (not speaking for all of Florida) where you will be cruising down a large road and all of a sudden the name changes mid road

We now know that you get some kind of idea of this as they put it in smaller letters under the current road name - it's fun for someone new to the area!

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

The signage in NJ is HORRENDOUS!!

You don't even know what street you are on half the time and you only catch the sign when you are already passed the street you needed to turn down.

It's horrible.

I miss the signs in Canada...it's SO much easier there!!!!

[Mephys 2]

On that note, you wouldn't believe how many signs we've missed when my husband and I were driving in Canada, and how many times we've gotten lost and almost in accidents because of it!

Between looking for barely-existing signs, looking out for traffic, looking at the speedometer, looking out for crazy drivers on the road...Yup, that's an accident waiting to happen!

Ant (Driving safely, especially in Canada...)

Driving safely huh...

You shouldn't be driving then if you know you are more likely to cause an accident. Not being able to focus on what's going on around you while driving doesn't mean the road signs are not clear. Canada's road are much more easier to drive on than most of the US roads. You just seem to have a major attention deficit.

And besides, if you can't drive safely, don't go give advices about driving to other people.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Mephys

[Reba 2]

I've been living here nearly 4 years now, and I still don't know what most of the streets here are called because there aren't any freakin name signs on most of them I hate trying to get directions from anybody because they'll tell me street names, and with no signs on them to tell me what its called, how the hell am I supposed to know where to turn!?

it drives me batty