Stop Sign Car Accidents in Ontario: Who Has the Right of Way?
A driver who enters an intersection from a stop sign and collides with traffic that had the right of way will usually be at fault. Stopping at the sign is only part of the obligation. Ontario law requires that the driver yield to traffic already in the intersection or approaching closely enough that proceeding would create an immediate hazard.
At four-way, or all-way stops, the analysis is different. The vehicle which arrives and stops first typically has priority. If two vehicles arrive and stop at the same time, the driver on the left is supposed to the driver on the right.
Foster Injury Law’s Ontario car accident lawyers represent people who are seriously injured in collisions throughout the province, including cases involving disputed right of way at intersections.
Ontario law requires both a stop and a safe decision to proceed
Section 136 of Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act sets out the obligations for drivers who are approaching a stop sign. The driver must stop at the marked stop line. If there is no stop line, the driver stops immediately before the nearest crosswalk. If there is neither a stop line nor a crosswalk, the stop must be made immediately before entering the intersection.
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Section 136(1)(b) requires that the driver yield to traffic which is already in the intersection or approaching on another highway so closely that proceeding would constitute an immediate hazard. Only after yielding is the driver permitted to proceed.
Many stop-sign collisions do not involve someone simply driving through the sign without stopping. A driver may stop, look in both directions and then pull into the path of an approaching vehicle.
A driver can stop at the stop sign and still be at fault
The Ontario Superior Court considered this distinction directly in Economical Mutual Insurance Company v. Jevco Insurance Company, 2017 ONSC 6534.
The collision occurred at a Hamilton intersection where traffic on one road was controlled by stop signs and traffic on the intersecting road was not.
The driver who was facing the stop sign came to a complete stop. Because a parked vehicle was obstructing her view, she pulled forward and stopped again. She looked in both directions, believed the road was clear and began crossing at approximately 5 km/h. Her vehicle was then struck by a motorcycle travelling on the through road.
The issue was how Rule 14(2) of Ontario’s Fault Determination Rules should apply when the driver had physically stopped at the sign.
The court upheld the conclusion that the driver was still 100% at fault for the insurance determination. The phrase “fails to obey a stop sign” was interpreted by reference to section 136 of the Highway Traffic Act. Obeying the sign meant not only stopping, but also yielding to approaching traffic where proceeding would create an immediate hazard.
The decision addresses a common misconception. A driver can stop completely and still fail to comply with the legal obligation associated with the stop sign.
How the Fault Determination Rules treat stop-sign collisions
Ontario insurers use the Fault Determination Rules to assign fault for property damage insurance purposes.
Rule 14 applies to incidents at intersections controlled by traffic signs. When Rule 14(2) applies, a driver who fails to obey a stop sign, yield sign or similar sign is assigned 100% fault and the other driver 0% fault, subject to other provisions of the Regulation that may affect the result.
The Regulation also addresses cases where the evidence is less clear. If both drivers fail to obey stop signs, Rule 14(3) assigns each driver 50% fault. If it cannot be established which driver failed to obey a stop sign, Rule 14(4) assigns each driver 50%.
Separate provisions apply at all-way stops.
The insurance result can therefore depend on whether only one approach was stop-controlled, whether both drivers were required to stop, and whether the evidence establishes who was entitled to proceed.
Who goes first at a four-way stop in Ontario?
At an all-way or four-way stop, the first vehicle which arrives and stops generally proceeds first.
The Fault Determination Rules expressly address this situation.
Under Rule 14(5), where one automobile arrives at the all-way stop first and stops, that vehicle is assigned 0% fault and the other vehicle 100% in the collision configuration described by the rule.
If both vehicles arrive and stop at the same time, Rule 14(6) then gives priority to the vehicle on the right. The driver on the left is assigned 100% fault.
If it cannot be established which automobile arrived first, Rule 14(7) assigns each driver 50% fault for insurance purposes.
Ontario’s Official Driver’s Handbook describes the same basic road rule: at an intersection with stop signs on all corners, drivers yield to the first vehicle to come to a complete stop, and where two vehicles stop at the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right.
A driver who properly stops and yields can acquire the right of way
Section 136 contains another provision that is sometimes overlooked. Once a driver at the stop sign has complied with the obligation to stop and yield, section 136(2) requires a driver approaching on the other highway to yield the right of way to that vehicle.
In other words, the through driver does not have an unlimited right of way regardless of what happens at the intersection.
Suppose a driver stops, waits for approaching traffic to clear and begins crossing when it is reasonably safe. A vehicle that was still well away from the intersection cannot necessarily continue without regard to the vehicle that has lawfully entered.
In these types of cases the key question becomes one of timing. Was the through vehicle already approaching so closely that entering created an immediate hazard, or had the stop-sign driver properly yielded and acquired the right to proceed?
Blocked sightlines do not automatically make the through driver partly responsible
A common stop-sign accident occurs when a truck or another large vehicle blocks the drivers’ view of each other.
The Ontario Court of Appeal considered that kind of scenario in Brown v. Dalessandro, 2017 ONCA 80.
The plaintiff was stopped on Eleanor Street in London and intending to cross Florence Street, a four-lane through road. A cement truck waiting to turn left obstructed the view between the plaintiff and a pickup truck travelling along Florence.
The plaintiff entered the intersection in front of the cement truck and collided with the pickup.
The motion judge found that the pickup driver was not speeding and could not see the plaintiff’s vehicle because of the cement truck. The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal of the claim against him. On those facts, there was no basis for finding that the driver with the right of way had a duty to reduce his speed or take additional precautions simply because vehicles were stopped elsewhere at the intersection.
The decision does not mean a through driver can never share fault in a stop-sign collision. It shows that contributory negligence must be supported by evidence. An obstructed view, by itself, does not make the driver with the right of way partly responsible.
Where the driver stops can matter
Stop signs are sometimes positioned some distance back from the edge of the intersecting roadway.
That does not mean a driver can stop at a point with poor sightlines and then proceed into the intersection without determining whether traffic is approaching.
In Chiocchio v. Hamilton (City), 2018 ONCA 762, a driver stopped near a stop sign that was several metres behind the intersection and then accelerated onto Brock Road without seeing an approaching vehicle. The collision caused catastrophic injuries to a passenger in the other vehicle.
The Court of Appeal discussed the driver’s obligations under section 136 and the importance of stopping where the driver can adequately assess approaching traffic before proceeding.
The case arose substantially in the context of a municipal road-liability claim, but its treatment of the driver’s duty at the stop-controlled intersection is useful. A stop does little to protect other road users if the driver proceeds without obtaining a sufficient view of the road.
If there is vegetation, parked vehicles, snowbanks, buildings or road geometry obstructing the view from the initial stopping point, drivers might need to move forward cautiously and reassess traffic before entering the travelled portion of the intersecting road.
Speed can still matter in a personal injury lawsuit
The Fault Determination Rules give insurers a standardized method of assigning fault. However personal injury lawsuits apply negligence law and can examine the conduct of both drivers more broadly.
In Economical v. Jevco, witnesses gave estimates suggesting that the approaching motorcycle may have been travelling above the posted limit. The case was decided in 2017, before the current version of Rule 20 of the Fault Determination Rules was enacted. The stop-sign driver was nevertheless assigned 100% fault under Rule 14(2) in that proceeding.
Under the current Fault Determination Rules, certain driving charges can change the insurance-fault analysis. Rule 20 includes, among other specified offences, a charge for exceeding the speed limit by 16 km/h or more. In the circumstances described by that rule, fault may be determined under the ordinary rules of law rather than the prescribed collision rules.
Separate from the insurance analysis, a personal injury lawsuit can consider whether excessive speed contributed to the collision.
If speed materially reduced the time available for the stop-sign driver to judge whether it was safe to enter, or prevented the through driver from avoiding a collision that otherwise could have been avoided, it may affect how liability is apportioned.
Our broader guide explains how fault is determined in Ontario car accident claims, including the distinction between insurer fault determinations and negligence in a lawsuit.
Evidence can decide who had the right of way
Stop-sign disputes often are about events which occurred within only a few seconds.
At four-way stops, each driver could genuinely believe they arrived first. At an intersection where only one road is stop-controlled, the dispute may concern how far away the through vehicle was when the other driver began to cross.
Dashcam footage can sometimes resolve those disagreements more effectively than recollection alone.
Video may show when each vehicle reached the intersection, whether a vehicle stopped, how long it remained stopped, the distance of approaching traffic and the sequence immediately before impact.
Our article on dashcam footage after an Ontario car accident explains why preserving the complete original recording can be important.
Other useful evidence could potentially include independent witnesses, surveillance footage, photographs showing sightlines and stop-line locations, vehicle electronic data, police observations and accident reconstruction evidence in sufficiently serious cases.
Sightline evidence can be particularly important where a driver says that a parked vehicle, truck, vegetation or another obstruction prevented them from seeing approaching traffic. An obstructed view does not necessarily excuse entering the intersection. It may instead make greater caution necessary before proceeding.
Traffic charges do not inherently determine civil liability. Certain charges specified in Rule 20 can, however, affect how fault is determined for insurance purposes. The absence of a charge likewise does not establish that a driver used reasonable care.
Ontario’s Negligence Act allows responsibility to be divided where negligence by more than one person contributed to the loss. Our article on contributory negligence in Ontario explains how a finding of shared fault can affect an injury claim.
Speak With an Ontario Car Accident Lawyer
A driver who is facing a stop sign is required to do more than bring the vehicle to a complete stop. They must also yield to traffic that is already in the intersection or approaching closely enough that entering would create an immediate hazard.
At all-way stops, priority generally depends on who arrived and stopped first. If two vehicles have arrived at the same time, the driver on the left ordinarily yields to the driver on the right.
Foster Injury Law’s Ontario car accident lawyers represent people seriously injured in motor vehicle collisions throughout Ontario, including cases involving disputed stop signs, right of way and intersection liability.
The liability analysis regarding each crash depends on its own evidence and circumstances. This article provides general information about Ontario law and is not legal advice.
Lane Foster is an Ontario personal injury lawyer and the founder of Foster Injury Law. His practice focuses on serious motor vehicle accident litigation, catastrophic injury claims and insurance disputes across Ontario.
