Is it just me, or do Mini Roundabouts NOT work??

[mxspyder]

Political Pain said:

Can't cope with a mini-roundabout? Then improve your driving by improving your tolerance and foresight!

There is a mini roundabout in St Neots that is so small that its impossible to go round. The only way to turn right is to technically go the wrong way round!

Perhaps if my driving skill was better my car would turn better than a black cab (or Triumph Herald!)

[Political Pain]

mxspyder said:

Political Pain said:

Can't cope with a mini-roundabout? Then improve your driving by improving your tolerance and foresight!

There is a mini roundabout in St Neots that is so small that its impossible to go round. The only way to turn right is to technically go the wrong way round!

Perhaps if my driving skill was better my car would turn better than a black cab (or Triumph Herald!)

But you have got round haven't you!

You managed to negotiate it and get home and post the above, you metaphorically wrestled the roundabout to the ground and overcame it with the power of your intellect...... marvellous!

[Colin Mill]

I have no issue with mini roundabouts. However. there is one mini roundabout near here that collects a significant number of accidents. Because of the disposition of the roads and a high wall road 1 has good sight-lines into road 3 (for which road 1 traffic has to give way) and a fairly straight run through. However road 2 traffic has very restricted sight into road 1 (for which it must give way)and an acute turn right into road 1. Not surprisingly you get people turning right from road 3 being collected by someone barrelling out of road 1 towards road 2.

[silverMX]

So, smug magic roundabouters...How DO you work it..?

[saaby93]

excellent site here
http://www.mini-roundabout.com/
check out midi roundabouts too

The only trouble with mini roundabouts is you get people sitting waiting giving way to traffic not on the roundabout rather than on it
You are allowed to have 3 people on it at the same time providing theyre all giving way to each other as they go round i.e. not crashing

[SBDJ]

Used to live near Swindon, never had a problem with the magic at all, fantastic idea if you ask me. If traffic is backed up on one of the exits it doesn't congest as easily as you can route round in the opposite direction. Miles better for flow than a big roundabout with a mass of traffic lights.

Oddly enough now live near Hemel which despite being simpler seems to confuse people more!

[Pints]

silverMX said:

So, smug magic roundabouters...How DO you work it..?

With a dab of oppo.

[Blayney]

Funnily enough there's one fairly local to me, that most people don't use properly. Google streetview has caught someone "in the act".

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.511267...

[Mostro]

Blayney said:

Funnily enough there's one fairly local to me, that most people don't use properly. Google streetview has caught someone "in the act".

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.511267...

Either that street is normally a lot busier than it looks, or that is a totally unnecessary place for a mini-roundabout.

Must admit, i straight-line the stupid ones when it's clear.

[TuxRacer]

silverMX said:

So, smug magic roundabouters...How DO you work it..?

Point the car at your exit, look right, accelerate where possible and brake if necessary to avoid anything coming from the right. More or less as simple as that.

[Blayney]

Mostro said:

Blayney said:

Funnily enough there's one fairly local to me, that most people don't use properly. Google streetview has caught someone "in the act".

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.511267...

Either that street is normally a lot busier than it looks, or that is a totally unnecessary place for a mini-roundabout.

Must admit, i straight-line the stupid ones when it's clear.

It's pretty much always that quiet. There's a bypass road that everyone uses. Literally only reason to use it is if you live there.

[Farrant]

mini roundabouts are b*llocks, near me council has decided to put 3 of them in less than a mile on 1 road, don't help that its in an area were all scroats/druggies/chavs etc. live, don't look, don't stop don't know how to drive. roundabouts wern't even needed in first place. My money well spent then *sarcasm*

[exocet ape]

Farant, i thought you were talking about Dunfermline's Garvock Hill. There are three in the space of around half a mile. All absolutely useless and unnecessary.
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.511267...

I don't think anyone actually goes round them.

[Morningside]

There has been a temporary 'dustbin lid' at Southwold for many years and I can guarantee every year there will be at least 2 or 3 crunches during the holiday season as people either panic stop on it or just go sailing over it.
Give way to the right does not come into effect.

[insanojackson]

theres a mini roundabout at the end of my road, i would say at least 50% of the time i turn right on it if theres a car to my left it will pull out on me without the driver looking. This afternoon whilst i was en route to the gym not 1 but 2 cars pulled out on me whilst i was on the roundabout, the second forced me to take evasive action.

Because of the road layout not many people turn right where i do however its a perfectly valid manouvre, its just the idiots who come from the left who dont even look that cause the problem. To be honest it would be far safer if it was just a t junction. (there are only three exits)

this is said roundabout from my point of view as i would be turning right.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&a...

Edited by insanojackson on Sunday 21st November 17:52

[checkmate91]

Three key principles:
1) mirror, signal, manoeuvre
2) only proceed as fast as it's safe to stop
3) give way to traffic from the right
4) (of three) assume everyone else on the road is a fkwit

[Taraniis]

Mind if I butt in? As a highways engineer I may be able to explain the point of mini-roundabouts.

The amount if space required to install a full size roundabout is quite substantial so it isn't always possible to put one in. However it may not be appropriate to install traffic lights or keep the existing junction layout. Hence the mini roundabout, or at least tha is the theory.

The reason why mini-roundabouts don't work as well as the proper ones is because 9 times out of 10 the local authority doesn't design it correctly. Best practice dictates that the approaches to the island are diverted "off course" by roughly 27 - 33 degrees. This requires the driver to at least acknowledge the roundabout and navigate it properly. However the temptation is to just open out the junction, raise the middle and paint it white. This creates contempt for the mini-roundabout and everyone then ignores it. However as stated in this thread previously - roundabouts are a more efficient means of moving traffic across busy junctions but they have to be installed properly.

[Pints]

Thanks. All reasonable explanations, but how can a council be allowed to introduce a MR which doesn't meet criteria? Or if these are only recommendations, what's the point?!
The MRs in our North Swindon estate simply can't be navigated correctly, given their size and the raised centre. Up to a given size I'd have expected the requirement to be a painted area otherwise they're quite frankly bordering on unsafe.

[Vipers]

saaby93 said:

excellent site here
http://www.mini-roundabout.com/
check out midi roundabouts too

The only trouble with mini roundabouts is you get people sitting waiting giving way to traffic not on the roundabout rather than on it

You are allowed to have 3 people on it at the same time providing theyre all giving way to each other as they go round i.e. not crashing

3 on a mini roundabout?, I am not sure why you say "You are allowed", where does it say that, and whats constitutes a "mini" roundabout, just wondering if it is laid down anywhere, not that it makes any difference, roundabout rules are the same, pity some motorists don't know that.

Not picking, just wanting to expand my knoweldge about these things.

[Taraniis]

Pints said:

Thanks. All reasonable explanations, but how can a council be allowed to introduce a MR which doesn't meet criteria? Or if these are only recommendations, what's the point?!
The MRs in our North Swindon estate simply can't be navigated correctly, given their size and the raised centre. Up to a given size I'd have expected the requirement to be a painted area otherwise they're quite frankly bordering on unsafe.

Quite simply the DfT do not have the capacity to ensure that every single roundabout meets the standards set out. To do that the department would have to employ a phenomenal amount of staff.

Also many of these schemes are bulldozed through by councillors - who have no expertise in these matters - against officer recommendations.