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  • #1

    Seriously?!

    Could not believe this one, happened to me yesterday.

    Had to take my family to the station in the next town over as they're going away on their Summer Holiday (So unfair but i have theatre commitments) I was in a bit of a hurry to get back as I had work within the hour but I wasn't doing anything over the speed limit. Coming out of this town its 50mph, a roundabout (don't know what the equivalent is in America, traffic circle?) and then the motorway. The car in front is doing about 30 and indicated a couple of times without pulling off. I dropped back a bit figuring maybe they were lost. Thank god I did.

    They speed up as we get to the roundabout doing about 45, it's quiet so we get on it straight away. At this point they are indicating right, I'm thinking as there's no right turnoff, just left and straight on. So I think maybe they missed their previous turning and are going round completely to go back on themselves (A safe presumption considering all the random indication?)

    As I'm coming up to the turning onto the motorway I'm trying to build a bit of speed, doing about 50. The car in front just about gets past the turning and brakes sharply. Instead of going round the roundabout again they reverse back to the turning and pull onto it. I'm just like this Why on earth didn't they just go round again?! It would have been a nasty smash if I hadn't slammed on my brakes. I didn't even get cross at the time I was just too shocked!
    My Crafting Profile http://www.craftster.org/forum/index...ofile;u=139859
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  • #2
    We call em roundabouts over here too. I don't know anyone that calls it a traffic circle.

    And people around here have absolutely NO idea how to use one. It has two lanes, but people usually just end up riding down the middle.

    Haven't seen anyone brake and back up though. That's just special.

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    • #3
      Roundabout, rotary, and traffic circle, I've heard them all. The one I got used to, though, was "roundabout" to refer to them. I think it depends on which part of the US you first pick up on them.

      Luckily, all the ones I've dealt with have been single-lane roundabouts with something big and in-the-way in the middle (or at least a huge swath of grass) so clueless folks can't just drive straight through, and double-luckily I have yet to run into someone so roundabout-clueless that they drive counter to traffic in them. Especially at the ones where the center obstruction actually blocks view of the opposite side of the circle.

      I have yet to encounter one large enough to require two lanes or result in crazy driving.
      "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
      - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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      • #4
        Nearly all major roundabouts in the UK have 2 lanes. Some have traffic lights on them, some have parts where you can cut through the middle, some have lanes that barely touch the roundabout but go straight off even though they're part of it. They make my brain hurt.
        My Crafting Profile http://www.craftster.org/forum/index...ofile;u=139859

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        • #5
          I hate to say it, but the OP's story doesn't surprise me. I've heard of people stopping and backing up on the freaking INTERSTATE because they missed an exit. No, not on the shoulder of the road, either--ON THE ROAD. People are morons with death wishes sometimes!
          "And though she be but little, she is FIERCE!"--Shakespeare

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          • #6
            Roundabouts are sprouting up around here all over the place. There are yield signs going in but some treat them as a stop sign. Then there are the ones that change lanes in the middle crossing the solid white line. Then there are drivers that try to make a left into the roundabout, that will give you pause.
            "Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears." – Rudyard Kipling

            I don't have hot flashes. I have short, private vacations to the tropics.

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            • #7
              Well, if you like roundabouts, you'll just love this one:

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

              I still miss my ex.
              But my aim is getting better.

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              • #8


                one of our traffic circles on the way to school similar to the one i was almost hit on

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                • #9
                  Quoth Midnight_Angel View Post
                  Well, if you like roundabouts, you'll just love this one:

                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

                  I'm never going to Swindon! (Actually there's a strong posibility I may have to go there in the next year if my theatre company keeps going. I will set the sat nav to avoid that!) Imagine learning to drive there!
                  My Crafting Profile http://www.craftster.org/forum/index...ofile;u=139859

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Pezzle View Post
                    one of our traffic circles on the way to school similar to the one i was almost hit on
                    That...actually doesn't look too bad, Pezzle. Which makes it even sadder when people can't figure out what's what on them.

                    The Magic Roundabout has no excuse, though. (Whenever roundabouts get mentioned on here, somebody invariably posts a picture or link of it. )
                    "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
                    - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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                    • #11
                      The Magic Roundabout looks epic and insane. You know, I was watching people zip around the roundabout like devices near major landmarks in Rome and Paris... now THAT is a free for all. Near the Arc de Triomphe... oh my lord. So many people in business attire on vespas zipping around each other!

                      I can't find a picture online of the small circle near my house. Nobody has any respect or courtesy in them tho

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                      • #12
                        Ay...The closest thing we have to that here is Lee Circle -- aside from the nice big statue in the center that blocks the view of the other side, its only oddity is that it serves as a traffic circle for both cars and for the streetcar (trolley...kinda). The latter has rails in the inner lane; its own dedicated traffic lights; and, as elsewhere in the city, absolutely unquestioned right-of-way. ...Well, it's unquestioned by anyone who wants to live, anyway ~_~
                        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
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                        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
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                        • #13
                          The Arc de Triomphe is, technically a "rotary" - where traffic coming on has priority over traffic already on. A complete recipe for disaster.

                          By contrast, a "roundabout" gives priority to traffic already on, so traffic arriving has to wait. This means that once you're on, you can go straight to your exit - in the prevailing direction of travel, of course.

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Chromatix View Post
                            The Arc de Triomphe is, technically a "rotary" - where traffic coming on has priority over traffic already on. A complete recipe for disaster.
                            Let me get this straight...They WANT the AdT area to be full of cars that are not moving as often as possible? o_O

                            Excuse me for a moment, please...I need to reboot my brain; I've just had a Divide By Stupid Error...
                            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                            "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                            "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                            "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                            "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                            "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                            Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                            "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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                            • #15
                              We call them rotaries here and I assure you that traffic IN the circle has the right of way. I think the terms rotary vs. roundabout is more of a local preference than any difference in meaning.
                              The best karma is letting a jerk bash himself senseless on the wall of your polite indifference.

                              The stupid is strong with this one.

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