Magic Roundabout • Hacker News Board

Re: Magic Roundabout

#21

Post by Surio » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 3:34 PM UTC

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.

>> I'm from the part of the world where everybody is driving on the right side

and all because of one Napoleon ;-)

I speak in jest. I know the story is apocryphal, but I am not going to pass the opportunity up - aka let facts get in the way of a good story [-;)

Re: Magic Roundabout

#22

Post by thisone » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 3:42 PM UTC

smikhanov wrote: post #20

alexkus wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

not really, being from the US and now living in the UK, the "traffic circles" I've gone round in the US were really just circular roads with one lane of traffic and easy to get stuck on if it's busy and you stray too far to the center. Quite different from UK roundabouts.

Not saying all US traffic circles are like that of course.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#23

Post by mootothemax » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 3:43 PM UTC

I went round a similar system first thing on Tuesday morning, the Plough roundabout in Hemel Hempstead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Hemel_Hempste...

Driving through was surprisingly easy (not to mention efficient), especially given how chaotic morning rush-hour driving can be.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#24

Post by polyfractal » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:01 PM UTC

As a child, I lived in England for a brief stint (around a year) because my dad was transferred to his company's British branch. We lived somewhere near the Magic Roundabout (Bovingdon, which I think is pretty close).

We had just moved, so both of my parents were still getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road. And roundabouts in general. I have fond memories of my mom getting stuck on the Magic Roundabout for about an hour, too terrified to leave. So we just kept going round and round and round. Being a small child (3 or 4 years old), I just kept telling her every-time we passed the same building.

"Mommy! There's that building again!".

I'm sure she wanted to reach back and strangle me. When she eventually mustered the courage to exit...she did something wrong and we stopped up the whole roundabout. I don't actually remember that part, but she claims traffic basically ground to a halt until she maneuvered her car out of traffic.

Fond memories =)

Edit: Based on another commenter, looks like it was the "Plough" roundabout, not the one in this article. Whoops!

Re: Magic Roundabout

#25

Post by lucvh » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:12 PM UTC

We have a similar roundabout in Colchester where your driving instructor would take you if you were being cocky. It is actually incredibly easy to use if you treat it as a load of mini roundabouts.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#26

Post by goatforce5 » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:28 PM UTC

Similarly interesting/confusing is the Traffic Light Tree that was in Canary Wharf, London. It's recently been removed to make way for some roadworks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_Light_tree

Note that it's art rather than something functional.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#27

Post by dsr_ » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:33 PM UTC

MrMember wrote: post #15

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.

Most people slow down.

Slowing down means more time for observation and reaction. As a result, it's actually quite a safe interchange.

(Most traffic accidents are the result of inattention coupled with insufficient reaction time. If you aren't paying attention, bad things happen. If you are paying attention but there isn't enough time to do anything about it, bad things happen. Thus, safety is highly correlated with both getting driver attention and increasing the time available for reacting.

Narrow twisty mountain roads are often much safer than the country roads leading up to them -- because drivers know they need to be involved and aware. Long straight highways are safe at high speeds because drivers can see obstructions and changes far in advance.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#28

Post by js2 » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:38 PM UTC

Raleigh, NC installed a two-lane roundabout a couple years ago[1]. Drivers could not handle it[2] (almost daily crashes) and it had to be reduced to a single-lane roundabout[3]. I can't imagine what Raleigh drivers would do faced with the Magic Roundabout.

1. http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/trans/planning/construction/Brochur...

2. http://www.raleighpublicrecord.org/news/2011/09/12/accident-...

3. http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/25/2218567/crash-prone-r...

Re: Magic Roundabout

#29

Post by deltasquared » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:42 PM UTC

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.

I hear you. Although that roundabout is scary, some of the entry ramps to the A-14 are worse. It feels like you have 3 meters to merge with two lanes full of inexpertly driven lorries.

Re: Magic Roundabout

#30

Post by mwilliamson » Thu, Dec 13, 2012, 4:42 PM UTC

mootothemax wrote: post #23

I went round a similar system first thing on Tuesday morning, the Plough roundabout in Hemel Hempstead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Hemel_Hempste... Driving through was surprisingly easy (not to mention efficient), especially given how chaotic morning rush-hour driving can be.

When I was learning to drive (in Hemel Hempstead), I found it easier to get around the magic roundabout if you just thought about it as a road that happened to be a small circle with a few mini-roundabouts on it. Even when it's busy, I've found it quite straightforward to get around, mainly because you rarely have to wait long at a mini-roundabout (if the car to your left is turning right, you can start going since the car on the right is blocked).