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And I thought Ireland's signalised roundabouts were scary..

There is one roundabout in Cork that links a number dual carriageways through a system that staggers it with traffic lights.. there are at least 4 lanes going around it and it gets very confusing but that UK one is just scary looking!



Currently being replaced with:

I'm afraid I wasn't able to rent a helicopter for these pictures, so this is the best I could manage for the double mini-roundabout junction in Stalham. It's not too clear, but those white circles are slightly raised -- You can drive over them with a slight bump.


Notice in this second picture how the "bump" is way over to the left. In theory, one is supposed to keep to the left of it and drive right around it. In practice, most drivers approaching from this direction just go straight across to the right of the bump if the road's clear:


Finally, it's not very clear from the photo, but there's very little room between this "bump" and the curb behind it in which to turn. Again, theoretically drivers approaching from this direction to turn right are supposed to keep to the left and go behind the circle. In anything but the tiniest of cars, it's almost impossible to do so without at least partially driving over the hump, so almost everybody just drives to the right of the bump (the street to the right is one way anyway, so nothing's approaching from that direction).


Buses, trucks, and anyone hauling a trailer just have to use the whole width of the intersection and drive slowly over the top of the humps.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 03-15-2003).]

Gosh, the "mini-roundabout" is something I hope we won't import! We have some bastard roundabouts with signals on the exits. When taking the driver's test I had to drive several times in one of these, until the light turned red and I ended up blocking the roundabout. Yup, I was failed!

Roundabouts are something, along with BS1363 plugs, that the British bequeathed to their ex-empire, Africa especially. Gaborone in Botswana is plagued with them along with East Africa. I remember being driven in the hotel shuttle (a 10 seater minibus) from Nairobi airport to a downtown hotel at high speed and approaching a roundabout full of high speed traffic. The bus made no effort to slow down. I cannot tell you how we got on to the roundabout as I instinctively closed my eyes! I suppose if everyone is going the same speed (fast!) and no-one looses their nerve and slows down you just mesh like gear teeth

Yes, we have some big roundabouts with traffic lights on them too. Note that the lights aren't always where each road meets the circle at the "yield" line; in many cases the lights are placed on the circle itself!

Those big 4 or 5-lane types are a nightmare for all but local drivers. The lanes are "helpfully" marked for which exit you want, but it's almost impossible to keep in the recommended lane all the way around. Anyone who's hit the A10 roundabout at Kings Lynn will know the feeling: Five lanes in a huge circle that must be about 100 yards diameter, vehicles crossing each other's path everywhere as they try to hit the right lane (and NOT hit other vehicles!), AND about four sets of traffic lights on the way round. You can't even just keep going round in the outside lane until you reach the right exit, as islands at each road sometimes make the outermost lane filter off. They just ensure even more congestion as drivers search for a gap on their right to pull back into the main flow.

Can you tell I don't like these junctions?



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 03-16-2003).]