Roundabouts...

[Davit2005]

no but if you join the que about 8.30 ish in the morning you get to see the muppets get pulled, one other thing they note the reg number and warn the drivers if you get pulled again in the next 3 months they will do you ( I think for without due care and attention) since its signposted a long way back

 

That's a shame, forget Jeremy Kyle or Big Brother I think I would actually pay to sit down and see people been turned around

[Xeba37]

I get cut up on roundabouts all the time, but I just chalk it down to d**k heads in, as someone put it, luxury cars and just be aware of it. I get cut up on Ainley Top roundabout in Huddersfield most mornings, you kind of just get used to it and I have learned to let it go....although I have to say this roundabout has improved since lights were added to it last year. It has decreased my commute home by 5-10 minutes.

 

What still frustrates me is lane hogs on motorways, i cannot let that one go as even being a moron you should be able to get that right. I cannot get past how someone can sit in the middle lane and cruise there at 55-60 when there is no traffic in the inside lane for over a mile and even the traffic a mile away is probably going faster than you arrrghhhhhhh..... $%&!!#&$!!!

I AM that person who flashes my lights at you when I am behind you muahahaha.

[mthomas08]

I AM that person who flashes my lights at you when I am behind you muahahaha.

 

Human nature to react, OMG you admitted that??!!!

 

Joking

 

Do not blame you at all, some times I use the horn to signal - I AM HERE!

[Crumpet]

Hemel's Plough roundabout in operation:

 

http://i.snag.gy/woOfd.jpg

 

What manner of sorcery is this?

[6Foot2]

What manner of sorcery is this?

 

Imagine it as a straight bit of road with six mini roundabouts on it. It is probably more daunting to a newcomer as one large roundabout, but it actually works very well.

 

Honestly.

[Davit2005]

What manner of sorcery is this?

 

Just treat as individual roundabouts, it isn't that bad, of course it is best to avoid at rush hour like anywhere but imagine the issues if it was just one big roundabout with that may roads going into it.

[Andrew_C]

And you can choose to go around the big island clockwise, or anti....

[DanTheLacky]

Aaa we all have a few of these roundabouts where the lanes are clearly marked out yet people ignore them and then after almost crashing you off the road whilst in the wrong beep, shout and flash at you.

I regularly use two roundabouts both at a motorway junction drives me nuts

[Davit2005]

And you can choose to go around the big island clockwise, or anti....

 

If you really want to there is nothing stopping you

[6Foot2]

...If you want real confusion try teh Magic Roundabout at Swindon...

 

Talking of roundabouts and Swindon I missed this bit of news on the same day that this thread was created:

 

Link: Lorry crash spills precious load of £1 million in cash - ITV News

 

http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/659078/stream_img.jpg

[sonofsanta]

Here's something else that annoys me, and annoyed me on my way home last night: at traffic lights, people who go over the solid white line on an amber light, and then stop dead as soon as the lights turn red. In the middle of the junction. Right in the way of where I want to turn right.

 

The lights apply to the solid white line. If the light is red, you stop at that line. If you have already passed that line, the lights no longer apply to you so GET OUT OF MY WAY

 

Bonus idiot points for doing it at junctions where they've painted crosshatch yellow lines, explicitly telling you never to stop there.

[GREED]

Here's something else that annoys me, and annoyed me on my way home last night: at traffic lights, people who go over the solid white line on an amber light, and then stop dead as soon as the lights turn red. In the middle of the junction. Right in the way of where I want to turn right.

 

The lights apply to the solid white line. If the light is red, you stop at that line. If you have already passed that line, the lights no longer apply to you so GET OUT OF MY WAY

 

Bonus idiot points for doing it at junctions where they've painted crosshatch yellow lines, explicitly telling you never to stop there.

 

Tricky one. Agree with you however I get annoyed when in my city at a certain junction waiting to turn right they pass the line en mass, wait for lights to Change then plough right while traffic coming in (it is a T junction) are also turning right where these idiots are crossing. The assumption is they crossed the line so red light means nothing to them and they have right of way over green light traffic....

[sonofsanta]

Tricky one. Agree with you however I get annoyed when in my city at a certain junction waiting to turn right they pass the line en mass, wait for lights to Change then plough right while traffic coming in (it is a T junction) are also turning right where these idiots are crossing. The assumption is they crossed the line so red light means nothing to them and they have right of way over green light traffic....

 

I don't think you should cross the white line until you can turn - they're taking the wossit by going over the line to force the issue. Quite a few junctions will time it so that traffic turning right can clear before it gets a red - e.g. in town here, oncoming traffic gets a red light whilst right-turning traffic stays green, forcing a gap in traffic to let you turn through before traffic from the junction gets a green.

[tmcd35]

Bonus idiot points for doing it at junctions where they've painted crosshatch yellow lines, explicitly telling you never to stop there.

 

Those yellow boxes are one of my pet driving peeves because nobody seems to know how to use them! (hint: you can actually stop in them)

[abillybob]

Talking of roundabouts and Swindon I missed this bit of news on the same day that this thread was created:

 

Link: Lorry crash spills precious load of £1 million in cash - ITV News

 

http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/659078/stream_img.jpg

 

It was like.... all in pound coins. Seriously....

 

I'm sure you'd need a forklift to steal it all anyhow.

[Boredguy]

Well it certainly made my home tip take a couple of minutes extra.

[sonofsanta]

Those yellow boxes are one of my pet driving peeves because nobody seems to know how to use them! (hint: you can actually stop in them)

 

Only if in a queue of traffic waiting to turn right but prevented from doing so by oncoming traffic, right? That is, not just because you tried to jump the lights and are now parked across a junction blocking a lane of traffic from crossing, as I've seen in Skegness*.

 

*conveniently, the traffic in that shot demonstrates what happened perfectly, although in that instance the lights are correct for the white 4x4 waiting. Just imagine that situation but with your lights green and a tourist still sat there stupidly in the middle, gesticulating at the red light facing him and protesting his innocence.

[tmcd35]

Only if in a queue of traffic waiting to turn right but prevented from doing so by oncoming traffic, right?

 

Pretty much. Only enter the box if your exit is clear is the rule. I've seen drivers wait at the lights because of oncoming traffic and thus you end up being stuck for 3-4 rotations of the lights because the idiot in front won't enter the box (my Aunty is famous for this). Or idiots just going into the box when their exit is blocked only for lights to change and them be stuck their blocking traffic. A common one out side our local bus station - not a good position to be in when you suddenly have a double decker barring down on you!

[6Foot2]

http://www.kgbreport.com/images/facepalm.jpg

 

Star Trek facepalm compilation:

 

http://i.snag.gy/P0HcQ.jpg

 

[6Foot2]

What manner of sorcery is this?

 

I found a YouTube video of the roundabout in action:

 

[6Foot2]

Here's something I didn't know at the start of the day today:

 

Link: UK's First Roundabout | Letchworth Garden City

 

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/53/12/531294_bd05b808.jpg

[Tesla]

One that gets me. On my way to one of my sites along a DC, i go straight over a Standard roundabout, left lane for left, middle for straight, right for straight/right.

 

Right lane is pretty empty (3-4 cars) Left lane (going into left lane and middle lane at r-about) has about 20 cars. And most of them go straight on at the roundabout. Why not just do as i and some others do and get into the lane with far less traffic????

[LeMarchand]

One that gets me. On my way to one of my sites along a DC, i go straight over a Standard roundabout, left lane for left, middle for straight, right for straight/right.

 

Right lane is pretty empty (3-4 cars) Left lane (going into left lane and middle lane at r-about) has about 20 cars. And most of them go straight on at the roundabout. Why not just do as i and some others do and get into the lane with far less traffic????

 

I will generally stay to the left in these conditions as

 

a) Road markings aren't always clear/visible

b) If road narrows at the other side it's less risky than trying to cut/merge in

c) If there are 2 lanes opposite the BMW/Audi/Merc etc behind will expect you to exceed the speed limit in order to pass any cars in the LH lane

[SteveBentley]

I don't think you should cross the white line until you can turn - they're taking the wossit by going over the line to force the issue. Quite a few junctions will time it so that traffic turning right can clear before it gets a red - e.g. in town here, oncoming traffic gets a red light whilst right-turning traffic stays green, forcing a gap in traffic to let you turn through before traffic from the junction gets a green.

 

I was taught to pull forward on green and wait for a gap in oncoming traffic. Often if you wait behind the line traffic not wanting to turn is stuck behind you.

 

If you want to see an epic fail in road design, by the way, try this

 

https://goo.gl/maps/sXuRt

 

On the main road, heading east. Motor vehicles stop at the first stop line, cyclists stop at the second advance stop line. Which is on the other side of the bloody junction.

 

So cyclists who aren't aware of this fantastic bit of design and using it as per the Highway Code find themselves in the path of vehicles coming down Blackmoorfoot Road and taking that junction. Another triumph by Kirklees Council.

[unixman_again]

Yes that is a epic fail. Here's one by me https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4879512,-1.9382894,607m/data=!3m1!1e3

As you see, there is a turn left lane between Heath Street and Winston Green Road. This was constructed maybe 5 years ago. Many people coming down Heath St towards Lee Bridge, and turn left into the A4040. Owing to the tightness of the turn, they spend ages going around the corner and so hold up the traffic. Almost nobody comes up Heath St from Lee Bridge and turns left back towards the A457 (the road they just came from). I think when they constructed this, they had the plans upside down; the turn left should be on the opposite corner. At the Dudley Rd/Winston Green Rd you can turn in all directions.