Gardens on Roundabouts

LegacyUser

Have to say...who ever was the bright spark who thought it might be nice to plant a heap of shrubs,flowers and trees on roundabouts should be lynched.

I cant understand why they do this...its so dangerous. Today I saw a girl almost getting milled because she couldnt see traffic already on the roundabout or traffic that was about to enter because of those bloody plants.

Has the RSA ever conducted a study on this sorta thing I wonder??

bushy...

That and people getting distracted by them

Poxyshamrock

Never been a problem with anyone i know! sure all you have to know is what's in front of you and what's coming from right then left.

Pineapple stu

Plants or roma gypsys, which would you prefer?:D

constellation

I would suspect that roundabouts are mostly ineffective these days. It appears (completely non-scientific observation, BTW) that increasing numbers of roundabouts have traffic lights around them.

Back OT. Would you prefer gardens on roundabouts or more of those useless broken-into-four speed bumps...?

murphaph

constellation wrote:

I would suspect that roundabouts are mostly ineffective these days. It appears (completely non-scientific observation, BTW) that increasing numbers of roundabouts have traffic lights around them.

In order of vehicle throughput, startig with the smallest, it is:
-Crossroads
-Roundabout
-Signalised crossroads
-Signalised roundabout
So in a way you are right, oftentimes it might have made more sense to go straight to a signalised junction than to build a roundabout and then signalise it, but that would require an ability to see into the future. Roundabouts have their uses. It's all down to the ratios of traffic flows between the arms of the approaching roads.

mike65

One used to piss me off, on the Cork road in Waterford just outside Waterford United ground. I no longer use that road so I don't know if its still bad but the visibilty was seriously compromised both looking 'across' due to shrubs (sponcered by a local shop!) but also when looking right due to the concrete separator being stuffed with flowers.

Mike.

DublinDilbert

Round abouts are bad, but it's mad how they let people plant stuff at Junctions so you can't see what's coming either way.... it's mad that the local council lets people do this. The management company where i live plant lots of shrubs, at junctions and then don't keep them trimmed back, it's very dangerous...

In countries such as canada the local city coucil would be very aware of this, they would also ask people to remove shrubs etc on their land if they effected the safety of a junction..

Also if anyone know's albert college park beside DCU, when your coming from albert park, turning right onto collins avenue, when you look left there's a sign blocking your view of the on-coming traffic....

fricatus

mike65 wrote:

One used to piss me off, on the Cork road in Waterford just outside Waterford United ground. I no longer use that road so I don't know if its still bad but the visibilty was seriously compromised both looking 'across' due to shrubs (sponcered by a local shop!) but also when looking right due to the concrete separator being stuffed with flowers.

Mike.

I know it very well, and it's a busy one too... another one is when heading north on the Athy road in Carlow. You have no visibility of traffic whatsoever, so you have to come to a complete halt, even though the roundabout is nice and big.

The problem though doesn't appear to be the shrubs on the actual roundabout, it's the shrubs and planters and assorted rubbish (including signs, ffs) on the little dividers just before the roundabout. All this crap impedes your view of the traffic coming from the right, which is the key piece of information you need at the roundabout.

The worst I saw was all the election posters put up by a certain, shall we say, 32-county party on the Outer Ring in Waterford,a busy dualler with about 8 roundabouts over maybe 6 miles (Dubs: think of the old N1 around Swords). You couldn't swing through the roundabouts in 2nd or 3rd gear like you normally would if nothing was coming.... you had to stop dead once again because there was literally no visibility to the right. And these guys want a say in running the country? :mad:

BrianD

kaiser1 wrote:

Have to say...who ever was the bright spark who thought it might be nice to plant a heap of shrubs,flowers and trees on roundabouts should be lynched.

I cant understand why they do this...its so dangerous. Today I saw a girl almost getting milled because she couldnt see traffic already on the roundabout or traffic that was about to enter because of those bloody plants.

Has the RSA ever conducted a study on this sorta thing I wonder??

i doubt it. I can't see how the presence of anything in the centre of a roundabout could possibly impair your vision or safety unless they started growing out into the roadway itself.

How could she not see the traffic??? How did the shrubs impair her vision to traffic coming from her right hand side??

In fact, gardening at roundabouts should be encouraged - least there's something nice to look at when you're stuck at the lights.

mike65

As fricatus notes anything that forces traffic to a halt or impeeds clear vison on the approach to a junction or roundabout is a bad thing.

Mike.

Chris_533976

A couple of flowers are one thing, its when the entire roundabout is turned into a horticultural exhibit that it gets dangerous. A tub of flowers or two is fine, as long as traffic isnt impeded.

BrianD

mike65 wrote:

As fricatus notes anything that forces traffic to a halt or impeeds clear vison on the approach to a junction or roundabout is a bad thing.

Mike.

But the vegetation in the centre of the roundabout clearly doesn't do this. It is straight in front of you and not impeding your vision.

Really what happened in the OP is that car on the roundabout was travelling at excessive speed or there was poor judgement by the woman entering the roundabout who did not yield to traffic already on the roundabout. Don't blame the potted plants for driver behaviour! There's still many people who will floor it and enter a roundabout when they should be yielding even if the roundabout is as flat as a billiard table.

mike65

Some roundabouts are quite small so you can get round them quickly, this is where a mound topped off with shubbs is not clever as if you are at normal car-seat height you cannot see across the roundabout.

Mike.

Slice

I thought the whole point of plants on roundabouts was to discourage joy-riders from driving straight through them?

seamus

Slice wrote:

I thought the whole point of plants on roundabouts was to discourage joy-riders from driving straight through them?

And to encourage other members of the driving community to come to a physical stop before entering them because the view is restrcicted.
It's dangerous. You need to see the 2nd and 3rd exits on the roundabout, at a minimum, to be able to effectively and efficiently plan your entry onto it. These "Gardens" block the 2nd exit which causes delays and jumping out in front of people.

Ham'nd'egger

seamus wrote:

You need to see the 2nd and 3rd exits on the roundabout, at a minimum, to be able to effectively and efficiently plan your entry onto it. These "Gardens" block the 2nd exit which causes delays and jumping out in front of people.

I disagree with you, Seamus. Your main concern when you come to a roundabout is to yield to traffic on the roundabout and to enter when it is safe to do so. Certainly, I was taught to treat a roundabout as two seperate junctions; as long as I can see it is safe to enter, I enter. Planning your approach doesn't come into it, safe driving at the junction does.

seamus

Hamndegger wrote:

I disagree with you, Seamus. Your main concern when you come to a roundabout is to yield to traffic on the roundabout and to enter when it is safe to do so.

Of course it is. I never said otherwise
But if you're approaching a roundabout, and you can see who is approaching from the second and third exits, then you can make a more informed decision on whether you will need to yield when you arrive. It's possible to decide 10m from the roundabout if you even need to brake at all.
The amount of people I've seen pull up to an empty roundabout, slow to a crawl, then go, is ridiculous.

dogmatix

Must agree with Seamus - I regularily travel from ballinteer to nass road and there are three main roundabouts to negotiate. One of these roundabouts has a large amount of foliage on it which makes it difficult to see whats coming around. Whatever about the specific rules regarding how to "work" with roundabouts, being able to have a clear view of all possible traffic and exits coming from your right or about to enter from your right can only be a good thing. A neat mowed lawn and some flowers is fine - but not tall hedges and shrubs.

As for lights on a roundabout - if you need lights on a roundabout then surely thats a sign the roundabout has failed and should be changed for a standard traffic junction (if it's a four exit roundabout)?

Del2005

Have to agree, a few shrubs and a bit of grass is OK, but on some roundabouts they've built mini mountians and it definately impairs your few of the oncoming traffic. I read somewhere the the councils where making a bit of cash from having companies sponsor the roundabout so I doubt they it will stop.

Also some of the very big displays could actually be causing issues with people stopping to admire the flowers:D

LegacyUser

Its not the big roundabouts I was talking about...its the small ones...and it was a small one that this incident happened at. I use it twice a day and have been for years.As you approach it you NEED to be able to see traffic coming from the second and third exits.

Victor

If you feel that sight lines are impaired, then mention it to your council.

Note however. In Canada they had a problem with vehicles failing to stop for rural, unguarded level crossings, resulting in accidents and train derailments. So they cut back the trees to improve sight lines. All this led to was people racing the train to the crossing. Accidents didn't improve.

highlydebased

I've seen one or two where they add big huge signs to the mini mountains bearing "Drive Carefully" or "Welcome to sporting Limerick". Those big huge things . Bloomin' things gettin in the way !!! (sorry just couldnt resist lol!)