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Complex roundabout in Swindon, England.
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Previously:
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...731#post155833
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...010#post187402
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...825#post167560
That roundabout looks like an accident waiting to happen
No wonder that's so crazy lookin'; they're all drivin' on the wrong side of the road! Still, I imagine it would just be one big automotive bonfire if someone built one of those in the States. Hell, we can't even figure out a regular roundabout. Or stop signs. Or traffic lights. Or pretty much driving, in general.
I didn't see one, awesome flow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank S
It looks like the work of an extremely talented and experienced Traffic Engineer. I’ve known a few and the good ones are bloody smart.
The video makes that appear to be a lot more chaotic that it really is. If you slow the video buy a factor of 7 or 8 that make the video about 1:45 to 2:00 minutes. I realize it is not scientific but that speed appears to be about right, and it looks much more practical.
But, it would only take one idiot to mess up the whole process. As noted above, there are LOTS of those around.
Some of us can. It's all the rest that are the problem! I swear! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by schuylergrace
When it comes to roundabouts I can either take them or leave them, I prefer to leave them though. It also seems to me that the more uncivilized a city or even a country becomes the more roundabouts they think they need. The problem there, though tends to be the total lack of intelligible signage, One used to be small town where I once called home now has a population of over 25,000 and appears to be constructing a roundabout at every other block on a couple of the off the main drag throughfares. Last week we had to go there to get some supplies like oxygen, C02, Argon, and some steel, the road I needed to drive down to get where I wanted to go now has 15 of the dang things. None of them were there 2 years ago. I almost wished I still had my old T shirt i got in Paris after driving around the Arc De Triomphe twice before escaping. on the back of the shirt it read I survived "The Étoile". Which for a first timer has to be the most horrifying driving experience you will ever encounter. If you've never been there and either ridden or driven on it there is no possible way to accurately describe it But I'll try, think of 500 cars and 10,000 scooters all attempting to compete for the same spot while at the same time desiring to be anywhere but where they are, while slowly rotating around the Island in the center with the Arc De Triomphe also known as The Place Charles De Gaulle. It's actually quite majestic structure to see if you are not driving that is.
Budget roundabout. There must be advance warning signs to warn drivers of the Twilight Zone ahead with exit for conservative old school drivers. Imagine someone from a country that drives on the right-hand side find him/herself in that bizarre roundabout!
This roundabout is known locally as 'The silly Isles', it actually works quite well, it is a bit of a bugger the first time you encounter it. As an English driver, roundabout usage is comprehensively covered during your driving lessons as a learner driver. I have driven round this one many times. The silly isles is a bit more complex than the norm, but users (mostly) know where they should be and how it works. The signage is very clear and simple to read when driving. Roundabouts in general are safe, time saving and ease traffic flow, also there is no argument as to who has the right of way.
They really do work well once everyone knows how they work.
Not a big deal.
I found 1 roundabout that had one of the roads on it that allowed large vehicles to travel straight through while the rest were directed around, I found that to be bizarre. I can't remember if it was in Northern Australia or one of the ones in India or possibly in Japan it has been a whileQuote:
Originally Posted by mansworld
There in is the problem, some people don't try to figure out how things work.Quote:
Originally Posted by fizzloid
It's really two circles in one.
The flow around the outer margins of the circle is CW which is what one would expect in a country that drives on the left.
In the inner circle the flow is CCW, typical of what one sees in countries that drive on the right.
This arrangement leads to many crossing traffic paths, each an easy arena for collisions.
I'm surprised they were able to make a video that didn't show a collision.
There's a five way intersection of major roads near where I live. No roundabout and the extremely complicated traffic light sequencing leads to long delays no matter how you enter the mess. I often spend these delays fantasizing about how the driver delay could be mollified by crucifying the intersection designer in the middle of the mess.
Hi Frank,
I too have driven around the 'Boulevard Périphérique' in Paris and also circumnavigated the Arc de Triomphe, both are madness on wheels. I have driven and ridden around both of these in cars, trucks and on motorcycles over the years, always a 'fun' experience.
I have found generally that when driving in France , just head where you want to go and don't worry too much about everyone else, boldness is the key here. Show weakness and you are mincemeat.
I have driven or ridden in most countries in Europe as part of my job, either in trucks, vans, cars or on motorbikes and it has been my personal experience that 'vehicular personal space' is not a thing in most of the more southerly European countries. Spain and Italy for example, in most large cities, if you have the thickness of a cigarette paper space between your vehicle and all the others around you while driving at breakneck speeds on the major roads, then you are lucky.
In most Mediterranean countries (I'm especially looking at you Crete) vehicular bodily contact is the norm and not at all unusual, just a kiss between friends, if your brand new car does not have a dent in it after a few days, well then, it must still be in the showroom, because it will almost surely have one before you get it home. :)
I love roundabouts, myself, but here's what a typical 'Merican does with one...Quote:
Originally Posted by fizzloid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdtzQ0Slrk
Amateur air that one, Eastern Europeans be like hold my beer: https://youtu.be/Dv8vVU2bEh0 more detail https://youtu.be/aniguxnz9ikQuote:
Originally Posted by schuylergrace
Though the Brits try: https://youtu.be/xTk_kPeA63c and https://youtu.be/McGRv0FjBI8
Can you buy common sense by the pound? :smash:
Nope, cannot buy common sense at any price. You can LOOSE that sense you may have been born with, but it is near impossible to get back once you have lost it.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr mikey
As long as you're going to emphasize it with capitals, best to use the correct word...Quote:
Originally Posted by hemmjo
lose - the opposite of win, find or gain, rhymes with booze, snooze, ruse, whose, muse
loose - not tight, rhymes with goose, moose, noose
[If the nut is loose, you might lose it.]
OOPS. My mistake. :smash:
In NJ the last one was taken out about 10-12 years ago, when I was in Franklin, NC last year they had just finished putting in 5-6 new ones!
They're popping up around here like mushrooms...