The view from Highway 400, near Barrie, Ont. after a snowstorm blanketed the region on Jan. 15.Christopher Drost/The Canadian Press
We’ve had a lot of snow this year, so the lane markings have often been completely covered. That leaves people guessing where lanes are – and they often get it wrong. Some cars drive over the lines. Should I follow the cars in front of me or stay where I think the lane is? If I end up driving over a line I can’t see, could I be charged? – Bruce, Edmonton
To stay safe on snow-covered winter roads, sometimes you may have to cross the line.
“When it’s snowing, it can be a game of ‘Whose lane is it anyway?’” said Dennis Porter, a senior driving instructor with the Alberta Motor Association (AMA). “You have to do what is safe for yourself and others and sort of match what other people are doing.”
Most provincial traffic laws require you to stay within your marked lane, but they generally don’t say what happens when you can’t see the lines.
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For instance, Alberta’s law states you shouldn’t let your car “[occupy] space in two traffic lanes.”
But there’s an exception if you’re passing another vehicle or changing lanes – and if road conditions “make the use of a single traffic lane impractical.”
So, while you should always stick to your lane the best you can, it’s up to officers to decide whether to pull you over and charge you if you get it wrong, Corporal Troy Savinkoff, an Alberta RCMP spokesman, said in an e-mail.
“If you were charged [and the lines weren’t visible], you may have a potential defence in court,” Savinkoff said.
We checked with a few other provinces and they all had similar advice.
“A driver is obligated to follow road lines and road safety rules unless there is a lawful reason that they cannot do so,” Corporal Michael McLaughlin, a spokesman for B.C. Highway Patrol, said in an e-mail.
Snow-covered lines are a “reasonable excuse” as long as you did your best to maintain the regular flow of traffic, McLaughlin said.
But you can’t drive “all over the road” just because you can’t see the lines, he said.
“You must do the safest thing that is closest to the ordinary lane position,” McLaughlin said. “Sometimes you should follow the clear lane; other times that would be dangerous.”
Go your own way?
What if you think you know where the lanes are on a busy road, but nobody else around you does?
Generally, it’s a good idea to stick to the same path as other drivers, as long as you can do it safely, AMA’s Porter said.
“[Edmonton’s] Gateway Boulevard is five lanes but, come winter, sometimes it’s three, sometimes it’s four, sometimes it’s five,” he said.
Unless cars in front of you are dangerously close to cars in the next lane, following them makes sense, he said. Otherwise, you could confuse other drivers. And if there’s a car that’s out of step with other drivers, safely pass them if you can.
You should also be slowing down and keeping plenty of space from all the cars around you, Porter said.
If you’re sure there’s another lane under heavy snow but there are no tracks there, think twice before forging a path, Porter said.
“Most cars will make it through, yes, but if you hit that one snow drift that’s a little bit harder, you’re getting thrown,” he said.
Sharing the road
Sometimes, even if you can mostly see the lines, one of the lanes might still be unsafe because of heavy snow or thick ice.
On highways, slower traffic generally should stay in the right lane unless passing in most provinces. But what if the right lane is blocked?
Then you can drive in the left lane at a speed safe for the conditions, McLaughlin said.
“[But] context is important,” he said. “If there is a very light dusting of snow in the [right] lane and the conditions are otherwise perfect, a driver should not be driving 40 kilometres an hour under the limit in the [left] lane.”
Too many drivers don’t consider the conditions when driving on winter roads, Savinkoff said.
Last month, there were 20 deaths on Alberta roads patrolled by the RCMP – that’s four more than the December average.
“There continue to be aggressive [and] dangerous drivers who speed even in the worst conditions,” he said.
Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. E-mails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.