**TIMMINS POLICE SERVICE NEWS RELEASE**

The Timmins Police Service is issuing a traffic safety advisory regarding intersection controlled by traffic lights during power outages.

On a number of occasions when this type of event occurs, a number of near miss situations are reported to the Timmins Police Service.

It is apparent that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of driving responsibilities when approaching an intersection with inactive traffic lights controlling the intersection in question.
Effectively, all intersections that are controlled by traffic lights become 4 way stop intersections while the traffic lights are inoperable due to a power outage or whatever technical root cause.

With that in mind, patience and good judgement must be applied by all drivers approaching such intersections.

The first vehicle arriving at the intersection has the right of way and is free to proceed once the driver has come to a complete stop, checking to make sure that his progress does not interfere with any pedestrians, and then proceeding safely through the intersection. All subsequent traffic must come to a complete stop and proceed in a “first come -first access” manner.

When traffic arrives at the intersection at the same time from 90 degree traffic arteries, the vehicle located on the right has the “right of way” hence the expression. This vehicle is the vehicle that is legally allowed to proceed ahead of the other vehicle.

In circumstances where traffic control will be inoperable at any given intersection for a considerable period of time, measures will be undertaken by the Timmins Police Service to control traffic at these intersections.

As always, those motorists found to be in violation of the Highway Traffic Act stand to be the recipient of an Offence Notice so that their negligence behind the wheels can be addressed.

The Timmins Police Service would rather educate than have to address poor driving habits by means of formal enforcement action but individual driving behavior is what determines the police response drivers receive at the roadside.