I was up on Finch today and noted that there are hatched lines painted on the roadway at all the station platforms. Doesn't help at other intersections, but perhaps it's a start.
Somewhere on social media I found an old photo recently showing a car that had driven onto a streetcar right of way somewhere in the US, back in the 1950's.... with a PCC street car facing the driver. This kind of mishap is not a new phenomenon.
I'm not convinced that we have found the right set of signage and stimuli to help motorists stay off the tracks, particularly when turning onto a grade separated street with center transit median. It's fairly easy to get it wrong, especially at night or if in unfamiliar territory. And the collection of lights and signage, while no doubt complying with the signage manual, is fairly complex. I'm not expert in signage, but I wonder if something better can be found.
My notional solution would be a lighted barber pole kind of pillar with a universal meaning of "aim to the right, and never to the left" - the point being, it can be read (and aimed for) from any angle before or during a turn, where a flat Keep Right sign may not be readable until it's too late. Just me spitballing.... but my point is, this is mostly a matter of a fallible driver rather than a reckless or culpable one. Signage and road design should help drivers make the right decisions.
- Paul