Advanced Driving Hub

chosulman wrote:"So should we all be driving into a RAB situation so that if a vehicle comes the wrong way we can act or react accordingly?"

Discuss!

When I'm entering a RAB I'm not only looking at what is coming in from the joining side roads but also looking/assessing that area of tarmac I'm about to ride/drive on.

It would be to be hoped that eventually, before moving off, the driver would look in front of them as well as to the side. Failing to do so is common, and the cause of many a tail-end shunt. So sort of, yes, but as a matter of routine, checking for vehicles coming the wrong way, no. Otherwise we'd never get anywhere.

I can recall a couple of instances where I have encountered drivers travelling the wrong way on a roundabout or trying to exit the roundabout on the wrong side of the carriageway. One was a continental HGV travelling the wrong way around this roundabout.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.74306 ... a=!3m1!1e3

The other was a driver trying to exit this roundabout onto the A31 towards the M27 on the wrong side of the DC from the A337.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.92022 ... a=!3m1!1e3

Nigel.

chosulman wrote:"So should we all be driving[...]so that if a vehicle comes the wrong way we can act or react accordingly?"

In general, I am in favor of planning also to a scenario where another road user will be going the other way, whether it's in a roundabout, a controlled junction, a winding road or whatever.

If the road is wide enough, it makes little difference because you can drive at about the same pace (in terms of being able to safely stop well within the area seen to be clear) and rely on your ability to brake and veer around the oncomer. If the extra space is absent, one should drive at a speed that allows to safely stop within half of the area seen to be clear, or less.

Just to clarify; my friend's daughter was not involved in the crash. She was witness to the motor-bike smashing into the "wrong-way" car in the way described. The motor-cyclist was seriously injured.

If you look at the roundabout on Google street-view, the centre is full of trees, and visibility severely restricted.

Personally, I've never witnessed a "wrong-way" car on a conventional roundabout in over 50 years, and neither has anyone else I've asked. But ... tomorrow is another day.

At university ~10 years ago, we were driving back to Loughborough from the MK snow dome at about ~10/11 pm. My German friend was driving us in his LHD car (a very nice yellow Mk1 golf that was stolen the next year ). He was annoyed with us because we were late and he wanted to get home before the club stopped letting people in. I think a combination of red mist, LHD car and not being into UK for too long prior caused him to revert to type and go around 1 of the many MK roundabouts the wrong way (3rd exit right). Luckily it was late and there was no one around so no harm came to us, and then us all shouting as we went round caused him to reset.

So yes it does happen

Besides, there is also something to be said for the universal practicality of advanced driving. Usually we think about a universal driving style or attitude in terms of it being transferable between different cars and different vehicle types, or between different driving environments, but I think that it should also be applicable in different countries.

In the UK and Israel, wrong-way driving may not be a huge problem (although statistically it does happen more often than one might suspect) but if you were driving in China you'd have to change how you drive as to accommodate for that possibility.

FWIW I think people often treat them as 'just a roundabout' - seemingly exempting them from normal rules

e.g.: As you can see here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.39511 ... 6656?hl=en
This roundabout is set into a hillside.

If you're heading from here . . .
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.39472 ... 6656?hl=en
The opposite side is blind - whether the road surface or other traffic rounding the island.

Specifically for the hidden road surface aspect, until the council fixed the drains, it would regularly flood . . .

https://youtu.be/NRznoYCJOHg

The Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead. Not your typical roundabout, but it works well, when used correctly.

HH magic roundabout is not too bad as the central roundabout is huge, so visually you are really only tackling one roundabout at a time...
the next video which came up for me shows Swindon's earlier version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGvj7GZSIo) and that is perhaps more interesting as visually it is all one mess - I used to drive it every day to work and it was simple to use - confidence and a big car
Alasdair