Fences to decrease visibility at roundabouts

[CGJJ]

Stroke of genius or idiotic?

[R8Steve]

Idiotic.

People are unobservant at the best of times without putting a big fence in the way of their visibility.

There's one at the bottom of a busy dual carriageway close to me and i've often wondered why would they put something like that there? What purpose does it serve?

[aw51 121565]

It's to make drivers slow down, even to have to stop. Idiotic in my view, one example being that if traffic on the roundabout has a reasonable velocity and is fairly busy it can be hard to get out into the flow when stopped, whereas a planned drive to slot in (like using a slip road properly on a motorway) always works fine . But we don't have "planed drives" nowadays, it seems to have been replaced by "the lowest common denominator" of driver.

There is also the road safety budget which needs to be spent in this financial year (to ensure they get the same settlement next financial year), so the cycle goes on .

[R8Steve]

To make matters worse the roundabout in question is at the end of a 70mph zone with large sweeping corner and they have put about half a mile of bump paint or whatever it is that they put down. If this is required to make people see what is in front of them they shouldn't be driving!

The last thing you need when braking in an emergency in any case is loads of close together painted bump strips to unsettle the car/bike, especially as it's going round a corner.

Totally unnecessary IMO

[Big Rumbly]

They put a load up a few years ago on the approach to the M11 J10 and A505, Within a couple of days they were all nicked, (they were just fence panels slotted into concrete posts)

[rallycross]

It is idiotic, the idea of a roundabout is to keep the traffic flowing, to make junctions safe without the need for traffic lights....

Putting these feneces up to stop the view to your right so you have to be prepared to stop at every roundabout is idiotic.

Are we too stupid to use roundabouts safely? Who' says so?

The accidents I have seen at roundabouts are slow speed nudges / stop starting traffic, ie not from people cruising through at speed becasue the driver could see the road was clear to proceed safely.

[MattHall91]

Idiotic. As are the 'blinkers' on traffic lights to stop you seeing when it will be your turn to go. What's wrong with preparing for the green light and building up the revs for a swift get away?!

[R8Steve]

You know things are going downhill when the best a planning meeting can come up with to improve safety is to reduce visibility

[themanwithnoname]

The one in Wigan for the M6 J25 slip road is a royal pain in the proverbial. Designed specifically so that only the front car in the inevitable queue that forms can see what's going on - there is rarely anything approaching from the right, and there would be good visibility for around 80-100m if the barriers weren't there.

[boyse7en]

Genius.

Roundabout on my drive home had them fitted on one (of the four) entrance and it cut down the approximately once a week minor incident (inevitably at rush hour and causing tailbacks) to very few (can't remember the last time it happened).

[Swervin_Mervin]

Depends on context. Roundabouts can become unbalanced and often some flows can dominate. Something as simple as obstructing visibility to slow entry can have positive effects on junction capacity.

[Jasandjules]

Idiots, along with those f***ng bumps that can cause a loss of traction in the wet when slowing down for a roundabout. A pity these halfwits don't seem to understand what roundabouts were for.

[GreatGranny]

Idiotic if you're bothered because you can't approach a roundabout at warp speed and hammer it round without braking.

Genius if you aren't the above and appreciate it reduces approach speeds and potential accidents both minor and major while only delaying your important journey by a matter of seconds!

[IainT]

Jasandjules said:

f***ng bumps that can cause a loss of traction in the wet when slowing down for a roundabout.

I've never had a loss of traction over them and roundabouts, etc. How late had you left your braking?

[Phatboy317]

Idiotic.

They increase the danger, in order to slow people down, in the vain hope of improving safety.

[R8Steve]

IainT said:

Jasandjules said:

f***ng bumps that can cause a loss of traction in the wet when slowing down for a roundabout.

I've never had a loss of traction over them and roundabouts, etc. How late had you left your braking?

Take it you don't ride a motorbike or have ridden over a wet white line on one?

Having a bumpy painted surface on the entrance to a corner is idiotic, putting fences up so you can't see what's coming more so.

[TommoAE86]

Only one near me, it's great, you have to come to stop and then it's the start of the motorway... got to love the sound a rung out car through more than 2 gears mmmmmm

[R6VED]

There is a big roundabout near Kingston in Milton Keynes where they tried this - it all got removed after a while.

Not idiotic, but there are better ways to spend taxpayers money for sure.

[Type R Tom]

Now I know this doesn't apply to the PH driving Gods but clearly people aren't able to use roundabouts and keep crashing, hence why someone felt it necessary to install something. The question to really ask is before and after statics to see if they actually work.

As for the thermo strips across the carriageway, there must be history of people not being aware (daydream) and hitting the roundabout, therefore something was installed to help highlight the roundabout (again not applicable to PH users).

[IainT]

R8Steve said:

IainT said:

Jasandjules said:

f***ng bumps that can cause a loss of traction in the wet when slowing down for a roundabout.

I've never had a loss of traction over them and roundabouts, etc. How late had you left your braking?

Take it you don't ride a motorbike or have ridden over a wet white line on one?

Having a bumpy painted surface on the entrance to a corner is idiotic, putting fences up so you can't see what's coming more so.

If you're not pushing the grip levels is it really that much of an issue? I can certainly imagine that it's unsettling on a bike though, uncomfortable even is the suspension's fairly stiff but bikes can't be that uncontrollable if touching a white line is going to plan you in the hedgerow.