Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

en.wikipedia.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 199 posts

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#91

Post by MrGilbert »

mcv wrote: post #43

A better solution for high traffic flow is the turbo roundabout[0] which is getting increasingly popular in Netherland. Before you enter the roundabout, you select the lane for the direction you want to go. You only cross traffic when entering the roundabout for the first time. After that, you simply follow your lane and it delivery you where you want to go. It looks complicated from above, but it's very simple once…

The only "downside" with these is in case of an emergency vehicle entering the roundabout.

In a "traditional" roundabout, all motorists could perform an extra round and thus clear the roundabout fast and easy. This doesn't work that great in these kind of roundabouts, I guess.

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#92

Post by matthewowen »

mcv wrote: post #43

A better solution for high traffic flow is the turbo roundabout[0] which is getting increasingly popular in Netherland. Before you enter the roundabout, you select the lane for the direction you want to go. You only cross traffic when entering the roundabout for the first time. After that, you simply follow your lane and it delivery you where you want to go. It looks complicated from above, but it's very simple once…

This style exists in the UK too: near where I group is https://maps.app.goo.gl/hjhi3gQijUGnuXha7 and a bunch of others like it: five roads in and out, with lanes that naturally flare out (though with the option to cut over right to continue further round). Quite intimidating when you're learning to drive.

That said, my recollection is that the default in the UK is that lanes flare out from the center, so that once you get into the lane you don't have to switch to another to exit.

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#95

Post by pashky »

blackearl wrote: post #58
dghughes wrote: post #51

My Canadian province has been on a big roundabout building spree. Nothing fancy just one lane or two lane types. I like them but many people fear them for some reason I suspect because they don't understand them. Some people actually go the wrong way when entering (against traffic). Some people will cross from an outside lane over the inner lane nearly crashing into cars.

If you live or learned to drive somewhere that doesn't have them I can understand being confused or scared by it. I love them but frequently see people stop in the middle of one because they think they need to yield to those entering

This was the default rule in Russia until very recently. Most (but not all) of roundabouts had yield signs on each entrance essentially enforcing “normal” rule, still it’s an utter source of confusion as many larger roundabouts have complex priority signs and lights systems, so it couldn’t go into muscle memory.

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#96

Post by mattlondon »

These are actually pretty easy to drive around: just think of it as a tiny ring road with round-abouts along it.

The only difference between this and a "normal" ring road with round-abouts is that the distance between roundabouts is 50m not 5km :)

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#97

Post by twodave »

A valuable thing to remember about roundabouts is that they are generally meant to slow down traffic in areas of high pedestrian activity and are, above all else, a safety mechanism.

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#98

Post by vanderZwan »

djaychela wrote: post #84

I first drove this back in the early 90s when I happened to be near Swindon (for some training), and a friend (who often worked in the area) had told me about it, so I deliberately went to it. Bear in mind this is pre-common-internet use era, so everything was hearsay and so on... He told me it was a 'nightmare', and 'weird' and so on. I was actually pretty underwhelmed when I drove it - it seemed really logical to m…

I wouldn't be surprised if it is safe partially because people think it's a nightmare to navigate

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#99

Post by peeters »

zamadatix wrote: post #69
dghughes wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how the turbo roundabout is any different than a typical two-lane roundabout. It looks like a regular two-lane roundabout from that picture in your link.

In a traditional 2 lane roundabout you aren't forced out of the roundabout. An example would be https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9561738,-86.1623079,150a,35y...

Are you just talking about being able to make a lane change within the roundabout? Because the outer lane cannot take the third exit in your example (at least according to the lane markings), they must exit before then.

In Ontario anyway, the general rule for roundabouts is that you aren't allowed to make lane changes, though they still use a dotted line so as to not make you think you're prevented from entering the inner lane.

Edit: I see it now. Took me a while to see how the inside lane stops at two spots. Interesting design. It ensures that you're only crossing traffic when entering, not when leaving, at the expense of it being less flexible (note how in two directions the right lane cannot be used to go straight through, so signing clearly in advance is much more important).

Re: Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

#100

Post by beerandt »

Metrics at work:

>however, the roundabout provides a better throughput of traffic than other designs and has an excellent safety record, since traffic moves too slowly to do serious damage in the event of a collision.

Post reply on HN