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mr2mk1g

Why can't people use roundabouts?

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I'm thinking of starting a blog or something to track the number of times I'm cut up by shitty drivers who can't use roundabouts. I'll call it "I was only cut up once this morning" and I'll post video of the people doing it.

I deal with a shed load of RTA's at work and litigate roundabout collisions regularly so know how they're supposed to work in intimate detail. It's a shame so few of the general populace do.

There's one busy roundabout I use daily to get into work - J3 on the M32. Generally around 60% of the traffic taking the exit I'm after are in the wrong lane. It's not that they're jumping a queue or anything though, as they are actually changing lanes out of my lane, queue and then cut back in to the correct lane after waiting a while.

They just don't know how to use a freaking roundabout.

It's not like it's hard - there are dotted white lines on the road and all you have to do is follow the right one and it takes you right where you want to go.

Every morning there are queues caused by these idiots trying to barge back into the lane they exited on the approach to the roundabout.

2 - 3 times a week I have to lean on my horn. At least once a week there's a very near miss, involving either me or another motorist. Thanks to defensive driving (as I know what's coming and have one thumb on the horn), I only rarely have to swerve or brake hard.

Some of the idiots in the wrong lane even use their horns at the people doing it right, as the idiots are such bad drivers they're convinced it's the others who are in the wrong.

It's not just that roundabout either. It's all of them. I used to use a different route to get in to the office and that roundabout was just as bad. Last night on the way home I was nearly side swiped by a flatbed who just meandered from one lane to the next whilst going round a roundabout and then back into the correct lane as he exited, as if there weren't any road markings at all - never mind the garishly painted sports car to his right with its headlights on!

What's worse is that when I come across roundabout collisions professionally, perhaps the majority of my opponents don't know how roundabouts are supposed to work either! Half my team's job is convincing their opponents that even on their client's own evidence, they're the one in the wrong. And it's clear this goes well beyond lawyerly devils advocate behaviour - they simply genuinely don't know how to use an actual roundabout.

Where it's one word against the other (and it usually is), you've not a hope in hell of settling on anything other than a 50/50 basis and if you take it to a hearing you might as well just toss a damn coin... or you get a 50/50 anyway… and then only after you've thrown a bunch of money at the case.

Because they don't know how to use a roundabout.

Perhaps what we need are some big steel spikes which pop out the ground (bus lane style) so that drivers can only follow the lane they're in. They can shoot up and down depending on what the traffic lights are doing. Make them properly sharpened spikes too - not just bollards. That would show the bastards.

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LMFAO:D:D:D

Love it. Maybe we should do like in Ireland, they recognised that the population can't drive properly and so now have TV adverts on RTE showing you how to use a roundabout. Seriously I'm not kidding.

Look...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPjIlh9DTZc


But stupid tourists just can't get enough of the thrill of feckin it up..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqovUqGavx8

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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So very true. I lived in Bournemouth and biked to work and was nearly side-swiped most mornings by wrinkleys using all lanes going straight on at roundabouts.
The British government need to introduce ski piste ratings (black, blue, green etc) for roads. That way all the shit drivers can stick to the easy routes (pronounced roots of course) and leave the complicated stuff for those of us who can cope with it.

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If you think people on that side of the pond have trouble, be glad you don't have to deal with idiots like we have here in the States. People here don't know what lane to cruise in, which one is for passing, how to use turn signals, what a red light means, etc. A roundabout? Forget it! I avoid them at all costs unless I am confident the traffic is very light.
HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

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If you think people on that side of the pond have trouble, be glad you don't have to deal with idiots like we have here in the States. People here don't know what lane to cruise in, which one is for passing, how to use turn signals, what a red light means, etc. A roundabout? Forget it! I avoid them at all costs unless I am confident the traffic is very light.



There are roundabouts on Hawaii that work well.

Traffic lights, contrary to uninformed opinion, don't reduce accident rates at intersections. Roundabouts do, EVEN in the USA.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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If you think people on that side of the pond have trouble, be glad you don't have to deal with idiots like we have here in the States. People here don't know what lane to cruise in, which one is for passing, how to use turn signals, what a red light means, etc. A roundabout? Forget it! I avoid them at all costs unless I am confident the traffic is very light.



There are roundabouts on Hawaii that work well.

Traffic lights, contrary to uninformed opinion, don't reduce accident rates at intersections. Roundabouts do, EVEN in the USA.



I wouldn't mind them if the idiots would learn how to use them.
You simply look ahead of where you are, time your approach to hit a gap in the traffic and scoot through...

Unless the idiots ahead of you think the thing is a four-way stop and insist on stopping until the oncoming traffic is clear.
Unless the oncoming traffic doesn't leave any gap to fit into.
Unless the oncoming idiots think that they need to zoom through it at full speed.

It's a lot harder and a lot easier in a big truck. I just fit into any gap that is "sorta" there. They will slow down. But I need to take up the entire thing (both lanes if it's a two lane, and often up onto the curb if it's a single lane) because of the way the trailer off-tracks. I have to be very careful of what's next to me.

And Professor, my (admittedly not terribly well informed) understanding was that the accident rates for roundabouts was higher, it was the severity of the accidents that was significantly reduced.
The idiots hit each other more often, but the accidents are at low speed and shallow angles so injuries are far less (both frequency and severity).
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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And all this time I thought it was just stupid Merkuns that couldn't grasp how to use a roundabout.[:/]
There are a couple nearby that I pass through frequently, and it is a PITA with morons that:
a) Do a panic stop just as they enter it, risking causing rear-end collisions.
b) Refuse to enter until the circle is completely empty, obstructing traffic behind them.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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There are roundabouts on Hawaii that work well.

Traffic lights, contrary to uninformed opinion, don't reduce accident rates at intersections. Roundabouts do, EVEN in the USA.



And they also move a lot more traffic than lights.

The statistics are in the book "Traffic", by Tom Vanderbilt.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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And they also move a lot more traffic than lights.

The statistics are in the book "Traffic", by Tom Vanderbilt.



Roundabouts, when used correctly, cars don't stop.

Now how do you train idiots to drive in them when most can't even figure out the dynamic of coming to a stop at a stop sign and taking turns at 4 way intersections?

I suspect that it's a waste of time gathering statistics to prove that they move more traffic than something that stops more than half the traffic over half the time. hopefully Mr. Vanderbilt got a lot of research money to prove the obvious at least on this one point.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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Roundabouts were invented for their comedic value.


Yes and so was the idea of planting thick shrubbery and large obstuctive water fountains in the center...:D


Same people that plant huge bushes on stop sign corners here in the US. They must go around the country and just do things to block vision.

I suspect it's a giant body shop collective.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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And they also move a lot more traffic than lights.

The statistics are in the book "Traffic", by Tom Vanderbilt.



Roundabouts, when used correctly, cars don't stop.

Now how do you train idiots to drive in them when most can't even figure out the dynamic of coming to a stop at a stop sign and taking turns at 4 way intersections?

I suspect that it's a waste of time gathering statistics to prove that they move more traffic than something that stops more than half the traffic over half the time. hopefully Mr. Vanderbilt got a lot of research money to prove the obvious at least on this one point.



(I just checked the book).

From the book, roundabouts compared to lights:
- Reduce traffic delays up to 65%.
- Reduce total crashes 40%.
- Reduce injury crashes 76%.
- Reduce fatal crashes 90%.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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And they also move a lot more traffic than lights.

The statistics are in the book "Traffic", by Tom Vanderbilt.



Roundabouts, when used correctly, cars don't stop.

Now how do you train idiots to drive in them when most can't even figure out the dynamic of coming to a stop at a stop sign and taking turns at 4 way intersections?

I suspect that it's a waste of time gathering statistics to prove that they move more traffic than something that stops more than half the traffic over half the time. hopefully Mr. Vanderbilt got a lot of research money to prove the obvious at least on this one point.



(I just checked the book).

From the book, roundabouts compared to lights:
- Reduce traffic delays up to 65%.
- Reduce total crashes 40%.
- Reduce injury crashes 76%.
- Reduce fatal crashes 90%.



well SURE, if you want to QUANTIFY the actual benefit rather than just get a direction of goodness assessment - then you can collect the data. Or is it Datum, I'm not sure how to phrase that in a Brit thread. Or is it datas

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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From the book, roundabouts compared to lights:
- Reduce traffic delays up to 65%.
- Reduce total crashes 40%.
- Reduce injury crashes 76%.
- Reduce fatal crashes 90%.



Roundabouts are AWESOME.

I just wish the idiots in boulder would learn to use them. I was a delivery driver and always loved it when I would get honked at by people who think the roundabout has a "right of way preference" to their street. As in most traffic is on one road, but they do not have to slow down or yield when someone is coming on the other road.

Offensive driving, when practiced in a legal way, is the best. B| (200,000km experienced city and country delivery driver)

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Roundabouts are AWESOME.

I just wish the idiots in boulder would learn to use them. I was a delivery driver and always loved it when I would get honked at by people who think the roundabout has a "right of way preference" to their street. As in most traffic is on one road, but they do not have to slow down or yield when someone is coming on the other road.

Offensive driving, when practiced in a legal way, is the best. B| (200,000km experienced city and country delivery driver)



You know that new one at McCaslin & Coalton in Superior?
I know a guy who is actively involved in the town council of Superior.
He filled me on all the crying and screaming of the idiots who were opposed to it,
and I gave him a reference to the "Traffic" book for ammunition to defend it.

BTW, do you know it is possible to take a bicycle Northbound through that roundabout at 27mph?:ph34r:
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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How to use a roundabout in Ballymun, Tallaght, Finglas or anywhere in Limerick.

How to drive drive like a local...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiHXSEHPq5w&playnext=1&list=PL934EB25943AB7923



I thought this was how the locals drove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-0Ky5TV4do
:ph34r::D:D
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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Perhaps what we need are some big steel spikes which pop out the ground (bus lane style) so that drivers can only follow the lane they're in. They can shoot up and down depending on what the traffic lights are doing. Make them properly sharpened spikes too - not just bollards. That would show the bastards.



I think the traffic lights and lanes are part of the problem. You just can't trust people to do what they're suopposed to do, and the more strictly defined what you're 'supposed' to do is, the more disruption it causes when you don't do it. Just have massive, blank circles of tarmac, like that one in Rome, or around the Arc de Triomphe.

(And what is it with having traffic lights at roundabouts anyway? There's one in my town where the lights operate 24/7, no matter how quiet the road. If you drive round it after 11PM you will, without fail, have to wait at a set of traffic lights for god knows how long while absolutely no-one uses the other entrance except for one bloke who drives up, without fail, right at the point his lights turn red and who then has to wait for another 5 minutes while absolutely bloody no-one except you uses the other lane! Pointless!)
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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(And what is it with having traffic lights at roundabouts anyway? There's one in my town where the lights operate 24/7, no matter how quiet the road. If you drive round it after 11PM you will, without fail, have to wait at a set of traffic lights for god knows how long while absolutely no-one uses the other entrance except for one bloke who drives up, without fail, right at the point his lights turn red and who then has to wait for another 5 minutes while absolutely bloody no-one except you uses the other lane! Pointless!)


If there are lights, it isn't a real roundabout: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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(And what is it with having traffic lights at roundabouts anyway? There's one in my town where the lights operate 24/7, no matter how quiet the road. If you drive round it after 11PM you will, without fail, have to wait at a set of traffic lights for god knows how long while absolutely no-one uses the other entrance except for one bloke who drives up, without fail, right at the point his lights turn red and who then has to wait for another 5 minutes while absolutely bloody no-one except you uses the other lane! Pointless!)


If there are lights, it isn't a real roundabout: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout



"The term "traffic circle" is not used in the United Kingdom, where most circular junctions meet the criteria for roundabouts. The U.K. does, however, have roundabout variants such as mini-roundabouts and magic-roundabouts — see below for the distinctions from the type of junction generally referred to here as a roundabout)."
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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How to use a roundabout in Ballymun, Tallaght, Finglas or anywhere in Limerick.

How to drive drive like a local...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiHXSEHPq5w&playnext=1&list=PL934EB25943AB7923



I thought this was how the locals drove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-0Ky5TV4do
:ph34r::D:D


Yep, looks about right:D
When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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Forget roundabouts. My pet peave (having been on the road all afternoon) is twats who do a 100MPh on the motorway and insist on doggedly returning to the left hand lane after every overtake. WTF? You are breaking the law and busy trying to "teach" everyone to stick to the left hand lane.

Ok I know I am the irritating twat that sticks in the middle lane at 75MPh. Tough I can't be arsed to keep overtaking every HGV every 1/2 mile and checking my mirrors all the time. If there are no HGV's in the visible distance I will go into the left.

You are welcome to do a 100 - just stick to the outside lane and get on with it.
Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

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