1 Of My Pet Hates And The Solution

[Falchoon]

I agree that it is fustrating to sit at a red light and wait for non-existant traffic to pass but I'm not sure I agree with your comment that Canberra drivers are used to roundabouts and know how to use them.

It is one of my pet hates that people don't know how to indicate correctly when negotiating a roundabout. They put their right indicator on when they are going straight ahead instead of putting their left one on as they are existing.

There needs to be way more driver education and licence retesting I reckon. But that would actually meen that some government official would have to actually use their brain for once and might have to actually do some work organising this. Silly me, much easier idea just to blame $peed and put up another dozen or so greed cameras and make another few squillion dollars out of the exercise to fund more overseas junkets and over the top politician superannuation funds, than to actually stop any accidents or, god forbid, save a life.

[Turbo6man]

For faster and smoother traffic flow roundabouts are the answer BUT they have to be large enough to cope with the traffic flow. Canberra ones are generally a good example of how they should be built and how well they can work. But simply putting an oversize silent cop in the middle of the road and calling it a roundabout is a waste of time and a contributing factor to accidents.

It is true that people have to think at a roundabout. This is something very alien to the Australian (driving) way. Traffic lights rely on just two things - the driver being able to see what colour the light is and the driver not being a taxi driver

[ms700]

I hate roundabouts!

Traffic lights are much, much better for 2 main reasons:

1) Better for "swiftly accellerating away form the guy next to you"

and

2) Much easier to perve at the chick in the car next to you! :lol:

[tab]

For faster and smoother traffic flow roundabouts are the answer BUT they have to be large enough to cope with the traffic flow. Canberra ones are generally a good example of how they should be built and how well they can work. But simply putting an oversize silent cop in the middle of the road and calling it a roundabout is a waste of time and a contributing factor to accidents.

It is true that people have to think at a roundabout. This is something very alien to the Australian (driving) way. Traffic lights rely on just two things - the driver being able to see what colour the light is and the driver not being a taxi driver :smilielol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's about the only fond memory I have from Canberra - the fact that the roundabouts are designed really well with the slip lanes (or whatever they are called) when you are turning left.

Traffic lights are fun, but I think that most of the lights in Brissie are synchronised for volvo drivers – if you accelerate hard then you just have to stop 100 metres down the road for the next set of lights.

Trent.

[Turbo6man]

I hate roundabouts!

Traffic lights are much, much better for 2 main reasons:

1) Better for "swiftly accellerating away form the guy next to you"

and

2) Much easier to perve at the chick in the car next to you!   :lol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Too right mate! Why just the other day I was up in Canberra, pulled up alongside this shmick looking black Territory - and I did BOTH :smilielol:

[eatV8]

Hardly any round abouts here. They are great if people know how to use them. Over here at night on alot of traffic lights when roads are less busy the main road flashes orange and the other road flashes red. This just turns it into a give way intersection so people dont have to be waiting at lights late at night. Pretty good idea. Oh, stating the obvious I think, but the red flashing light is the give way traffic

Edited 14/11/04 04:45 AM by eatV8

[BlueXR6Turbo]

Over here at night on alot of traffic lights when roads are less busy the main road flashes orange and the other road flashes red. This just turns it into a give way intersection so people dont have to be waiting at lights late at night. Pretty good idea.  Oh, stating the obvious I think, but the red flashing light is the give way traffic

That's a great idea. I wish they'd do something like that over here.

[voy74656]

I'm not very keen on roundabouts though. Here in Adelaide we have the infamous Britannia roundabout. Too many people seem to have trouble working out what the hell they're supposed to do at multi-lane roundabouts.

Not to mention that it's pretty hard to have races from roundabouts!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right on about the Britannia roundabout - that ones insane!!!!...avoid at all costs!!!...theres like what 6 lanes converging on there...insane!!!

[HellionXR6T]

I'm not very keen on roundabouts though. Here in Adelaide we have the infamous Britannia roundabout. Too many people seem to have trouble working out what the hell they're supposed to do at multi-lane roundabouts.

Not to mention that it's pretty hard to have races from roundabouts!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right on about the Britannia roundabout - that ones insane!!!!...avoid at all costs!!!...theres like what 6 lanes converging on there...insane!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ask Ian and my wife about racing around roundabouts :blink:

6 lanes, hmm, best I've seen is 3 here. (I think).

I prefer lights simply because I don't trust the majority of motorists.

My pet hate is tailgating. 2nd is failing to indicate, what happens at round-abouts? Chaos for people that don't know what they are doing.

[pym]

It all depends on the junction. In some situations traffic lights are better than roundabouts and vice versa.

Back in the UK, a lot of councils jumped on the bandwagon and decided to replace traffic lights with roundabouts, on the basis that roundabouts improved traffic flow. Every was fine, until traffic levels reached a point where roundabouts only contributed to the congestion, primarily through lack of driver education where motorists blocked the roundabout. These days, the councils limit the flow of traffic onto roundabouts, using traffic lights !!. I kid you not, when it can take 30 minutes or more just to get onto the roundabout.

As for roundabouts, I know of this wonderful roundabout, which will confuse the hell out of any visiting motorist. It is in a town called Hemel Hempstead just north west of London. This roundabout is called affectionately the 'magic roundabout'. There are 6 major roads, each terminated by a small roundabout, with a large roundabout in the middle....so at each small roundabout, you have to go round to the left, but you can go round the large roundabout to the right.....

The following picture will give an idea...