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Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 9:12 pm
by waremark
4 way stops are rather inefficient for traffic flow when there is a significant amount of traffic. Personally, when driving in places where they have them, I have been confused about what order we arrived in (the system is that each vehicle enters the junction in the order in which they arrived at the junction).

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 9:22 am
by ancient
waremark wrote:What are the situations where a mini RAB helps at a T?

As in my first post, all I can think of is that with a T there is a need to look both ways, but with a roundabout it is necessary only to check to the right as anyone to the left will be giving way to you .... :car: Won't they? :lol: This would assist the less mobile who find it difficult to turn their heads easily.

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 10:03 am
by Mr Cholmondeley-Warner
... or you could look at it another way ...

T-junctions have a clearly defined priority. You need to check for a space before emerging from the leg with the Give Way on it.

Mini roundabouts have no such definition. It's a free-for all where the person already on the roundabout has priority. In practice this leads to a game of "chicken" where each participant hurries to arrive first so that they can be the one with the priority. This can be quite intimidating and I imagine older drivers must dread some mini roundabouts. They can be dangerous places.

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 10:28 am
by Horse
Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:... or you could look at it another way ...


Only if you can turn your neck ;) :drums:

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 5:30 pm
by WhoseGeneration
Horse wrote:
Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:... or you could look at it another way ...


Only if you can turn your neck ;) :drums:


All round view HUDs is the answer.

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 11:05 pm
by chriskay
waremark wrote:4 way stops are rather inefficient for traffic flow when there is a significant amount of traffic. Personally, when driving in places where they have them, I have been confused about what order we arrived in (the system is that each vehicle enters the junction in the order in which they arrived at the junction).

I remember sitting drinking coffee at the junction of California and Powell streets in San Francisco and being amazed by how each driver seemed to know to the microsecond who arrived first and therefore had priority. At this junction, cars have two crossing cable car lines to look out for too. The system seemed to work very well.

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 7:09 am
by ChristianAB
GTR1400MAN wrote:
ChristianAB wrote:Fortunately, many people treat those white circles at roundabout for what they actually are, a pointless inconvenience.

So do you advocate following the masses and driving over/ignoring them?

When does safety/convenience trump driving legally? (Philosophical question).


Stupidity, even when legal, has to stop somewhere. But do not take my word for it. It is a natural phenomenon. Near where I live I remember seeing ONE car which respected the speed limit. That was a few weeks ago.
As to the few offset roundabouts, I would say, it's about 70%-30% in favour of driving over them, and increasing. I would not put myself at risk just to comply with an ill-conceived and dangerous road marking. Would you?

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 7:53 am
by waremark
ChristianAB wrote:
GTR1400MAN wrote:
ChristianAB wrote:Fortunately, many people treat those white circles at roundabout for what they actually are, a pointless inconvenience.

So do you advocate following the masses and driving over/ignoring them?

When does safety/convenience trump driving legally? (Philosophical question).


Stupidity, even when legal, has to stop somewhere. But do not take my word for it. It is a natural phenomenon. Near where I live I remember seeing ONE car which respected the speed limit. That was a few weeks ago.
As to the few offset roundabouts, I would say, it's about 70%-30% in favour of driving over them, and increasing. I would not put myself at risk just to comply with an ill-conceived and dangerous road marking. Would you?

Put myself at risk, no. Drive round the blob while carefully monitoring the vehicle behind, yes. I equate it to obeying unnecessary speed limits and stopping at stop signs.

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 8:33 pm
by ChristianAB
waremark wrote:
ChristianAB wrote:
GTR1400MAN wrote:
ChristianAB wrote:Fortunately, many people treat those white circles at roundabout for what they actually are, a pointless inconvenience.

So do you advocate following the masses and driving over/ignoring them?

When does safety/convenience trump driving legally? (Philosophical question).


Stupidity, even when legal, has to stop somewhere. But do not take my word for it. It is a natural phenomenon. Near where I live I remember seeing ONE car which respected the speed limit. That was a few weeks ago.
As to the few offset roundabouts, I would say, it's about 70%-30% in favour of driving over them, and increasing. I would not put myself at risk just to comply with an ill-conceived and dangerous road marking. Would you?

Put myself at risk, no. Drive round the blob while carefully monitoring the vehicle behind, yes. I equate it to obeying unnecessary speed limits and stopping at stop signs.


Maybe a picture is in order. The roundabout I have in mind is such that if you do go round the blob, anyone within within 1.5 s behind you has plenty of time and space to undertake you by straight-lining the roundabout. In effect, there is nothing you can do about being undertaken, unless you straight-line the rdb yourself, or at least drive with most of your car to the right of the blob.

Here is the picture, before they moved the blob: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.49491 ... !1e3?hl=en
I will try to get a pic of how it looks now later this week-end.

Re: Let the games begin ....

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 8:53 pm
by fungus
GTR1400MAN wrote:
fungus wrote:Here is something that works well. Three give ways, no white blob.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.02624 ... 312!8i6656

Nigel.

That makes much more sense! Direct lines through the junction for everyione and no blob to cause strange deviations.

How often does it suffer from stalemate? Worse than mini-RAB where there is a given order of precedence, sort of, to the right?


I can't imagine stalemate here. Motcombe is a village betwen Shaftesbury in North Dorset and Mere in South Wiltshire. The road is mainly narrow lane. It is shorter in terms of miles from Shaftesbury to Mere than taking the main B3092 via Gillingham. And just for the record, that's a hard G, not soft as in the impersonator in Kent.

Nigel.