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Magic Roundabout

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Re: Magic Roundabout

#11

Post by jrochkind1 »

mdda wrote: post #3
laacz wrote: post #2

If you consider that I'm from the part of the world where everybody is driving on the right side (see what I did there?:) of the road, it was not a complete disaster. Up and close this magic roundabout actually is not so magic - just one large roundabout with few smaller entry/exit roundabouts. Though, first timers could easily drive round and round for a while.

The UK is not exactly alone in driving on the left : Nations like Japan, India and Indonesia keep it company (among the 76 [0])... One explanation that always made sense to me is that when driving a manual/stick-shift car, taking your dominant hand (statistically the right hand) off the steering wheel for a secondary task like changing gear is more dangerous... YMMV [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-ha…

That might indeed make drive/sit-on-the-left better -- but I think it's not where it originated from, the drive-on right/left distinction has existed since the days of horse and carriage, before there were gear shifts or steering wheels!

Although apparently the origins DO have to do with keeping your dominant hand free for various tasks!

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/634/why-do-the-brit...

Re: Magic Roundabout

#13

Post by meaty »

deltasquared wrote: post #12

I have been there once. It was the scariest roundabout I have traversed. The contra rotating flow (inside goes one way, outside goes the other) makes it extra exciting.

Myself too. Hangar Lane is far scarier as the driving mentality is central London style and there are 7 lanes.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#14

Post by OliC »

alexjeffrey wrote: post #7

being from Swindon, I'm very proud to see this on the frontpage of hacker news! I took my driving test on it... It's actually a lot easier to navigate than it looks, you can essentially treat the whole thing as one giant roundabout by taking the second exit on each mini-roundabout.

I too took my driving test on this beast. I spent a good part of a driving lesson learning the different routes across it.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#15

Post by MrMember »

After studying it for a bit it isn't too difficult to figure out how it works, and I'm sure if you drove through it every day it would even become boring, but if I encountered this roundabout blind without knowing anything about it I'd probably cause some sort of accident.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#16

Post by alexkus »

meaty wrote: post #13
deltasquared wrote: post #12

I have been there once. It was the scariest roundabout I have traversed. The contra rotating flow (inside goes one way, outside goes the other) makes it extra exciting.

Myself too. Hangar Lane is far scarier as the driving mentality is central London style and there are 7 lanes.

Hanger Lane is scary as most drivers haven't realised that it's not really a (proper) roundabout any more.

On a normal roundabout if you stay in a lane (one of the inside ones at least) you'll just keep going round and round.

With the redesigned Hanger Lane you get in the lane marked for your exit and the outer lanes slowly peel off as feeders for the appropriate turnings. If you want to keep going round and round you'll need to keep moving over to the right (since we go round them clockwise) every so often to keep from being directed off eventually from your current lane.

[EDIT] It's a "Spiral Roundabout".

Re: Magic Roundabout

#18

Post by ComputerGuru »

alexkus wrote: post #16
meaty wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Myself too. Hangar Lane is far scarier as the driving mentality is central London style and there are 7 lanes.

Hanger Lane is scary as most drivers haven't realised that it's not really a (proper) roundabout any more. On a normal roundabout if you stay in a lane (one of the inside ones at least) you'll just keep going round and round. With the redesigned Hanger Lane you get in the lane marked for your exit and the outer lanes slowly peel off as feeders for the appropriate turnings. If you want to keep going round and round yo…

I don't know about the UK, but in the other countries I've been to, the default roundabout is as you described. The "spokes" of the roundabout (the exits) are narrower than the roundabout, and only the outermost circle of the roundabout traffic can "peel off" into the exit. To keep from leaving at this turn, you need to go in towards the center, then make your way back out at the turn you wish to take.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#19

Post by ivix »

Jabbles wrote: post #5

This is basically two normal roundabouts, one inside the other, with traffic direction the opposite way in the inner lane. Or a two-lane roundabout. It allows you to spend less time on the roundabout if you want to take the junction to your right, as you would usually have to go to your left and do an almost complete lap. Compare reaching your parent on a singly-linked list to a doubly-linked list. Being able to trav…

Yes, it's just a circular road which happens to have lots of roundabouts on it.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#20

Post by smikhanov »

alexkus wrote: post #16
meaty wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Myself too. Hangar Lane is far scarier as the driving mentality is central London style and there are 7 lanes.

Hanger Lane is scary as most drivers haven't realised that it's not really a (proper) roundabout any more. On a normal roundabout if you stay in a lane (one of the inside ones at least) you'll just keep going round and round. With the redesigned Hanger Lane you get in the lane marked for your exit and the outer lanes slowly peel off as feeders for the appropriate turnings. If you want to keep going round and round yo…

Isn't every big roundabout the same? I drive via Old Street roundabout in London almost every day and it certainly is spiraling. When I took my driving lessons a year ago, my instructor was saying this configuration is pretty normal.
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