Roundabouts

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Roundabouts

Post by drossall »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 12:11pm Yes, precisely. It's a series of mini-roundabouts and at each one you can go in one of two directions. Just take it step by step and it's far more bike-friendly, and probably motorist-friendly too, than if it had been one large roundabout with five exits.
But with the added bonus of making everyone nervous and therefore more cautious, even though it's actually safer than the big one :D
AndyK
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Joined: 17 Aug 2007, 2:08pm
Location: Mid Hampshire

Re: Roundabouts

Post by AndyK »

drossall wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 3:40pm
Bmblbzzz wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 12:11pm Yes, precisely. It's a series of mini-roundabouts and at each one you can go in one of two directions. Just take it step by step and it's far more bike-friendly, and probably motorist-friendly too, than if it had been one large roundabout with five exits.
But with the added bonus of making everyone nervous and therefore more cautious, even though it's actually safer than the big one :D
Absolutely. Many years ago I used to cycle through Swindon's Magic Roundabout on my daily commute. I rarely had problems. One feature is that so long as you go the right way (clockwise) round each individual mini-roundabout, you can actually work your way anti-clockwise round the bigger loop - so for instance you could make the right turn from Drove Rd to Queens Drive by negotiating just two mini-roundabouts rather than all five.

By contrast, the huge conventionally-designed Greenbridge Roundabout further out of town was intimidating in rush hour and frequently involved near misses. (By now, Swindonians will probably have guessed where I used to work!)

These days I believe both junctions have cyclepaths and light-controlled crossings of variable quality.
prestavalve
Posts: 126
Joined: 24 Dec 2020, 8:03pm

Re: Roundabouts

Post by prestavalve »

AndyK wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 4:30pm I rarely had problems.
So, today on my way through the roundabout at the head of the Queensferry Crossing, an elderly driver in a racing green E type Jag decided that the roundabout had no traffic lights on it, came close to t-boning me and even closer to t-boning the car following me. No excuse for "sun in my eyes" because, well, traffic light boxes are big and black, so you know they are there.

Sadly, my helmet cam was at the wrong angle for his number plate: the following car pulled next to me at subsequent set of lights, asked if I was fine and then said "is that a camera, please can you report him" - which I thought was a nice interaction. For balance, they were elderly as well.

There are light controlled crossings on that roundabout for cyclists but I refuse to use them because: they slow down the flow of traffic (including me) without good reason and I can keep up with traffic no problem on a medium sized traffic light managed roundabout. This potential accident would have occurred regardless of whether I was mounted on a bike, motorbike, thoroughbred Duchess or driving a car.
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matt2matt2002
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Joined: 25 Oct 2009, 7:45pm
Location: Aberdeen Scotland UK

Re: Roundabouts

Post by matt2matt2002 »

mjr wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 11:24am
Pete Owens wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 10:24am The eye contact thing works because [...] by staring directly at them you are increasing the likelyhood that when they look in your direction it is you that they will see.
It does not work. As you correctly write later, all it does is increase the likelihood. It is not a certainty, so you cannot rely on it, so it does not work. Some motorists are so switched-off that they will look you directly in the eye and drive right into you. Steer clear as much as possible, aiming to be able to pedal out of their path sideways before their bonnet hits you, and practise emergency stops and so-called "escape turns".
"It is not a certainty".
Indeed.
Pray, what is?
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
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matt2matt2002
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Joined: 25 Oct 2009, 7:45pm
Location: Aberdeen Scotland UK

Re: Roundabouts

Post by matt2matt2002 »

mjr wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 9:31am
matt2matt2002 wrote: 15 Oct 2021, 10:53pm All good comments and views above.

Part of my roundabout tactic is eye contact.
I only move out if our eyes have met.
Sounds romantic?
But it works for me.


Poor tactic IMO. "Looked but failed to see" is a top factor in collisions. It's said that this Beatles song was written after Lennon was cut up by a driver jumping out at a junction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH6i9JAdJrQ
"Part of my tactics".
( Love the Beatle song btw.)
" Looked but fail to see", that's a line from a Stones song. I'll look it up.
Anyway, I'll carry on making eye contact, along with my other tactics and thank you for your views.
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6259
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

Re: Roundabouts

Post by Bmblbzzz »

" Looked but fail to see", that's a line from a Stones song. I'll look it up.
Looking up "Looked but failed to see song" gives you this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car_crash_songs
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