[bestcigsnick]

We have roundabouts here but Ive never seen anything like what is pictured above.... It looks stupid and pointless.?.?

It is.

[bestcigsnick]

Fixed!
Do people actually drive round them over there? I've only seen a couple of little ones like that, and seen people just drive over them to go where they want to go.

Generally not, but you get a few that are the size of regular roundabouts which involve a bit of a swerve.

[attlawqa]

Just an FYI, not my opinion or view on them..

Mini roundabouts

After developing the offside priority rule, Frank Blackmore, of the UK's Transport Research Laboratory, turned his attention to the possibility of a new type of roundabout that could be utilised at sites with limited space to use a conventional roundabout.

A mini-roundabout in the United Kingdom, where a painted white circle is used for the centre. The arrows show the direction of traffic flow.


Mini-roundabouts exist at these smaller junctions to avoid the use of signals, stop signs or the necessity to give way in favour of one road of traffic. Mini-roundabouts can be a painted circle or a low dome but must be fully traversable. Painted roundabouts and low domes can easily be driven over by most vehicles, which many motorists will do when there is no other traffic, but the practice is dangerous if other cars are present. Mini-roundabouts work in the same way as larger roundabouts in terms of right of way but can give different performance with regard to driver behaviour. Mini-roundabouts are sometimes grouped in pairs (a double mini-roundabout) or in "chains", making navigation of otherwise awkward junctions easier. In some countries there are different road signs used to distinguish mini roundabouts from larger ones.
Mini-roundabouts are common in the UK and Ireland, as well as Irapuato in Mexico and Mount Royal and Rosedale in Calgary, Canada.
A slightly larger version of a mini-roundabout, sometimes called a "small or midi roundabout", is designed with a raised centre surrounded by a sloped "overrun area" of a different colour from the roadway and up to a metre wide called a "truck apron" or a "mountable apron". The truck apron's design discourages small vehicles from taking a shortcut over it while at the same time allowing the mini-roundabout to more easily accommodate the turning radius of larger vehicles (such as a truck which may have to navigate the roundabout).
In the UK the maximum permissible diameter of the central painted circle of a mini-roundabout is 4m. Whilst it may be physically possible, it is illegal for vehicles which are able to circulate around the central circle of the roundabout to go over the painted circle, or around the wrong way. Vehicles should treat the painted circle like a solid island and proceed around it.[35] (In practice, many motorists ignore these rules, especially when traffic is light).[citation needed] Some local authorities have installed double white lines around the painted circle to indicate this, but these are not permitted under UK traffic signs regulations without authorisation from the Secretary of State for Transport . The centre island also must be able to be over-run by larger vehicles.
At Hatton Cross roundabout, close to London Heathrow Airport, five small ‘mini-roundabouts’ have been constructed where the roads join/leave the main roundabout, allowing traffic to circle the main roundabout in both directions - clockwise in the outer lane(s) and anti-clockwise in the inner lanes.

[MatueHarton]

They aren't completely pointless. When they replace a traffic light controlled junction they can eliminate any time you would spend waiting. Still, many do seem pointless.

[Gaxiciverfere]

I can't a wait to drive once I get the all clear for my Epilepsy... 12 bloody months I have to wait.[thumbdown]

[MyOwnStyle]

Every round-about is a potential skid pad for your G-meter. [thumbup]

No, j/k. I do find them annoying. Mostly because most people around here are too stupid to navigate them.

I swear, Drivers Ed. should require manual cars and a performance driving course as part of the final exam. I wanna see some serious car control.

[bestcigsnick]

Every round-about is a potential skid pad for your G-meter. [thumbup]

No, j/k. I do find them annoying. Mostly because most people around here are too stupid to navigate them.

I swear, Drivers Ed. should require manual cars and a performance driving course as part of the final exam. I wanna see some serious car control.

I thought it was a myth that US drivers licenses don't require manual training??

In the UK you can do an auto only license but you can't drive a manual on it. Over there you can?

To be totally fair, roundabouts baffle a lot of UK drivers as well. Especially this one (and no joke, this bad boy exists in Swindon. You go clockwise around the little ones and anti-clockwise through the big ones.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_R..._%28Swindon%29

It was constructed in the early 70's so I'm guessing the town planners of the 60's had a very liberal attitude when it came to "bring your LSD to work" days.

[herbalviagra]

I was looking for a decent picture of that earlier, I really want to drive it one day, just to see if it's as batshit mental as it looks!

[Amomiamup]

I love the way people sit at mini roundabouts staring at them and other cars like they've just dropped from the sky.

They're the same as a normal ****ing roundabout, just smaller. Now ****ing move, asshat.

On a side note, does anyone remember that animation of a character sat writing a forum/blog post and he would say 'ass........hat' several times?

[Ingeborga]

I thought it was a myth that US drivers licenses don't require manual training??

In the UK you can do an auto only license but you can't drive a manual on it. Over there you can?

To be totally fair, roundabouts baffle a lot of UK drivers as well. Especially this one (and no joke, this bad boy exists in Swindon. You go clockwise around the little ones and anti-clockwise through the big ones.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_R..._%28Swindon%29

It was constructed in the early 70's so I'm guessing the town planners of the 60's had a very liberal attitude when it came to "bring your LSD to work" days.

Same here, auto' driving tests don't cover manuals* (but I think after a period of time, they may do so?), it was brought in a few years back - one of my friends sat his in a LHD Ford Galaxy station wagon - totally threw the TC who was taking him right from the start, the cop got in on the wrong side...
In the US, and increasingly so in the rest of the world, people can go a lifetime without having to drive a manual car.
When the Magic Roundabout was built, there would have been a lot less cars on the road as well.


*The lines getting blurry now, though, with computer controlled manual 'automatics' and manually controlled automatic transmissions - seems it comes down to if it has a cluch pedal or not.

[bestcigsnick]

I was looking for a decent picture of that earlier, I really want to drive it one day, just to see if it's as batshit mental as it looks!

Try the Denham roundabout, same ****ed up concept but closer to London.

[MyOwnStyle]

I thought it was a myth that US drivers licenses don't require manual training??

In the UK you can do an auto only license but you can't drive a manual on it. Over there you can?

To be totally fair, roundabouts baffle a lot of UK drivers as well. Especially this one (and no joke, this bad boy exists in Swindon. You go clockwise around the little ones and anti-clockwise through the big ones.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_R..._%28Swindon%29

It was constructed in the early 70's so I'm guessing the town planners of the 60's had a very liberal attitude when it came to "bring your LSD to work" days.

that roundabout is nuts. Even j would avoid that like the plague.

As for us drivers license I will admit they are a joke. They place more importance on Parallel parking than actual car control. My driving test was a joke. Just a trip around the block. If it wasn't for my dad insisting I go to auto-x events and gokarting to learn control I'd be a much worse driver. I did the same with my sisters. Took them to the track and auto-x

As for no special license to drive a manual that's true. It's not required in the US though it should be.