Roundabouts .... why can't people use them?????

Femelade

dont like the look of that magic round about!!
its like 5 little roundabouts in one big one! - my ultimate nightmare!

Hagar

Binomate wrote:

I think the worst roundabouts are the French ones. They have to give right of way to people coming on to the roundabout instead of giving right of way to the people on hte websites

Err... No they don't. The rules are the same as Ireland. It changed a long long time ago. There are however signs as you approach many roundabouts "Vous n'avez pa la priorite" reminding people going onto the roundabout to yield.

I don't know what the official policy is on "giving right of way to the people on hte websites."

dundalk cailin

hagar i noticed that too, i dont actually drive over here, but i think the french drivers are crazy!!

GaRtH_V

GaRtH_V wrote:

I see....
But still, isn't the whole point of a roundabout to avoid traffic lights?

No the point of roundabouts is to create safer junctions.

dundalk cailin

to regulate the flow of traffic.. (voice of driving instructor in mly head!)

Binomate

Hagar wrote:

Err... No they don't. The rules are the same as Ireland. It changed a long long time ago. There are however signs as you approach many roundabouts "Vous n'avez pa la priorite" reminding people going onto the roundabout to yield.

I don't know what the official policy is on "giving right of way to the people on hte websites."

Realy? When I was there in Easter 2004 they gave right of way to people coming onto the roundabouts. The French are gneraly crazy drivers over there. In my experiences it would have seemed to me that traffic lights were more of a suggestion over there!

Hagar

I have been coming to France for 20 years and now I live here full time and I have never seen that anywhere.
Any details you have would be welcome.

Kersh

I hate it when drivers use the right hand lane to go straight ahead, when the road ahead is single lane - i just come out to meet them and squeeze them into the traffic island, eg - roundabouts like the ones down the fonthill road - the right lane is for going right/3rd exit, the left lane for straight on.....:mad: :mad:

Binomate

Hagar wrote:

I have been coming to France for 20 years and now I live here full time and I have never seen that anywhere.
Any details you have would be welcome.

In that case maybe I was mistaken.

robinph

Hagar wrote:

I have been coming to France for 20 years and now I live here full time and I have never seen that anywhere.
Any details you have would be welcome.

Was visiting some freinds in Tolouse a couple of years ago and we went round a couple of roundabouts there that still had the give way to traffic coming onto the roundabout rule. They said that they were about the only ones left with that daft rule though.

Airblazer

Kersh wrote:

I hate it when drivers use the right hand lane to go straight ahead, when the road ahead is single lane - i just come out to meet them and squeeze them into the traffic island, eg - roundabouts like the ones down the fonthill road - the right lane is for going right/3rd exit, the left lane for straight on.....:mad: :mad:

nearly right..except for when the 2nd exit heads onto a dual carriageway..the fast lane is then considered to be a 3rd exit and hence you can take this from the inside lane..

gibo_ie

Kersh wrote:

I hate it when drivers use the right hand lane to go straight ahead, when the road ahead is single lane - i just come out to meet them and squeeze them into the traffic island, eg - roundabouts like the ones down the fonthill road - the right lane is for going right/3rd exit, the left lane for straight on.....:mad: :mad:

I think in cases where there are two entry lanes onto a roundanout onad only one exit lane it should be clearly marked e.g. Straight arrow on road on left lane and right arrow on right lane. I see this a lot on Northern roads, e.g. through Omagh/Strabane. It makes it obvious that there is not another lane ahead. Of course in typical irish style you dont find out until you get to the exit.... :mad:

ravenhead

gibo_ie wrote:

I think in cases where there are two entry lanes onto a roundanout onad only one exit lane it should be clearly marked e.g. Straight arrow on road on left lane and right arrow on right lane. I see this a lot on Northern roads, e.g. through Omagh/Strabane. It makes it obvious that there is not another lane ahead. Of course in typical irish style you dont find out until you get to the exit.... :mad:

That's what happens at the roundabout that I use every morning! it's so bloody frustrating! & then to top it off the drivers here in limerick have to be the most ignorant you will ever come across

mike65

I also hate peeps who use right side lane for going straight ahead even on a dual carriagway.

Mike.

noby

Now that's a roundabout!. Is the middle bit anti-clockwise??

noby

mike65 wrote:

I did this for a thread on motors how to use a simple roundabout

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/mike65/roundabout.jpg

I also hate peeps who use right side lane for going straight ahead even on a dual carriagway.

Mike.

You may hate them, but they're perfectly right to do so.

Kersh

Thats why i never mentioned a dual carriageway -
on a single lane exit, the left lane is straight ahead/left and the right lane is for 3rd exit....
If you are beside me on the right trying to go straight on, I WILL cut the snot off you, and if you keep coming -you will be behind, and it will be your fault.

gibo_ie

mike65 wrote:

I also hate peeps who use right side lane for going straight ahead even on a dual carriagway.

Mike.

everything right here except the orange lane on the right.
you CAN go straight ahead from both lanes "except Where conditions dictate otherwise" so even with your pretty picture, people should still use both lanes for straight ahead. Can you honestly imagine the chaos if people had to move from the right lane on the red cow if they are continuing on straight or on the N3 or any other junction for that matter... come on .. comon sence please...

Seth Brundle

Actually has anyone noticed the approach to the M50 as you head inbound? Three lanes (excl bus lane) approach it and the road markings say city in all of them (right has M50 S & left has M50 N). The large sign at the side also says city traffic can use middle and right lanes (and possibly left lane).
The garda signs at the side of the road say city traffic in center lane only.
Confusing?

Then the new paint marks on the roundabout are really designed to throw you off!

blastman

I love the type of thing they have on the Blanchardstown/M50 roundabout, where two lanes suddenly and deliberately become three without warning.

testicle

Hagar wrote:

I have been coming to France for 20 years and now I live here full time and I have never seen that anywhere.
Any details you have would be welcome.

Etoile, Paris - one of the very few left.

Hagar

Your're spot on there. http://www.paris.org/Curiosites/Etoile/priority.html

The French make a distinction between "Rond Point" and "Giratoire".

BTW I drove around it twice, just for a laugh. The wife was a funny shade of green afterwards.

AMurphy

GaRtH_V wrote:

Why?
Because you live in Ireland.....The only country in the world who put traffic lights on roundabouts...wtf like!

Exactly..
Having to put traffic lights on a RA means the original design was flawed.... (most all RA are flawed by deisgn or execution), however, by putting TL's on them, you are now correcting an error by making a bigger error.

glad I'm not the only soul out there that woud like to use this items as target practive for bomber pilots.

AMurphy

mike65 wrote:

I also hate peeps who use right side lane for going straight ahead even on a dual carriagway.

Mike.

What you have shown here is a very simple example, typical driving school, 3 cars on a single RA, Unfortunately the reality is very different and much more complicated and when you draw all the combinations and permutations of the cars entering and exiting a RA you find it is a mess of crossing traffic tracks.... so what do you expect, confusion and near misses.
"Flawed by design", repeat the mantra... "Flawed by design". then drive like a loonie...

lazylad

It looks like some people dont realise its a roundabout!!
I drove in waterford once and I was in the lane for second exit! The roundabout on N25 near pc world i think. Ever stupid eejit going for second exit is in the outside lane and then they cut in on you when you taking the exit and they flash at you like you were in the wrong! Everyone does it on that roundabout!! It annoys me to f**k.
New ross road roundabout near Barntown is ok but once there was a massive queue, at the entrance to the roundabout was a learner and there was no traffic coming from the right and the car cut out on her! I was pissed off coz I was in rush home! But sur I felt bad for the driver coz there was such bad queue! Benifit of doubt. It was a learner.

Angels

Well the way i see it the Government should get rid of all roundabouts in the Ireland (Specially Magic roudabout & Dunkettle, Cork) they all have traffic lights now so whats the point driving around in a circle especially when some ejits havent a clue how to drive them.

bazz26

The Hedford Road Roundabout in Galway, the Kinsale Roundabout in Cork, the Parkway Roundabout in Limerick and the Mad Cow Roundabout in Dublin are just a few examples of how the general rules of the road regarding driving on roundabouts seem to just go out the window.

Also what torments me is the way you have wonderers on roundabouts, those who don't stick to one lane when going round them, they start off in the inside lane but tend to drift outwards into the outside lane as they go around the roundabout basically cutting off drivers in the outside lane who are taking the second exit.

unkel

bazz26 wrote:

The Hedford Road Roundabout in Galway, the Kinsale Roundabout in Cork, the Parkway Roundabout in Limerick and the Mad Cow Roundabout in Dublin are just a few examples of how the general rules of the road regarding driving on roundabouts seem to just go out the window

They're all lame enough compared to the Walkinstown RA in Dublin

Hobbes

Femmy wrote:

ok, u have to look out for learner drivers too.

I've found that learner drivers know how to use the roundabout properly.

The problem is that a large number of drivers never had to sit a test as the government gave them amnesty.

Airblazer

Hobbes wrote:

I've found that learner drivers know how to use the roundabout properly.

The problem is that a large number of drivers never had to sit a test as the government gave them amnesty.

yep definitely agree..most people I see driving incorrectly on the roundabouts are people over 30 who'd been driving at least 12-15 years and never bothered to learn about them..even worse are the old age gimps who have absolutely no idea whatsoever what lane to take and where they're going..
I think everyone should be made resit the test every 10 years or so...people can't complain..it's for road safety and at least you'd see the benefits from this as opposed to the rip off NCT test..
And if someone fails put up their insurance...at least that'll encourage them to take the lessons to brush up and hopefully make them a safer driver