whose brainstorming idea was it to put zebra crossings at roundies....

x in the city

wtf

is this not THE most idiotic thing ever, rear end smashes

hellooooooooooooooooooooooo


OnLY In Ireland do we put up with this bollocks...

whatdoicare

I know so flippin stupid! There's one where I live and coming off the roundabout the view of whats ahead is blocked by a bit of a building and right there is a crossing! If you're a tourist there's no sign at all that it's there! Also we have another one where three lines off traffic are dodging each other and then when you think yr safe another crossing right on top of the exit!
It's only a matter of time before someone is killed!

patrickc

theres at least 5 of them in Carlow, feckin worst idea ever..

smash

x in the city wrote: »

OnLY In Ireland do we put up with this bollocks...

No they have them in Spain, as well as these which are useful for wheelchairs and people with prams!

Anan1

There's one at the Glenageary SC roundabout coming onto Glenageary Rd which can cause tailbacks almost onto the roundabout at peak times. That said, pedestrians need to cross too and moving it further from the roundabout would inconvenience them.

h3000

Anan1 wrote: »

There's one at the Glenageary SC roundabout coming onto Glenageary Rd which can cause tailbacks almost onto the roundabout at peak times.

They are two in particular on the Dublin rd in Limerick cause that also. I personally think they are lethal.

The red lines on the images below are the approximate location of the crossings. This is one of the busiest roads in and out of Limerick city.

The blue arrow points to the one I find most dangerous.

Kilmurray


Groody

Anan1 wrote: »

That said, pedestrians need to cross too and moving it further from the roundabout would inconvenience them.

Totally agree but I would rather inconvenience them than kill/injure them.


.

Vain

Tralee has them too, total joke. If someone is crossing the zebra crossing and only one car is stopped its out half sticking out in the roundabout, plus the cars taking the first exit and turning into a blind spot with a crossing:rolleyes:

slamman

Edenderry has them aswell, they're absolutly leathel. As well as being sacked the people who designed/Approved these should be jailed for gross incompetance and public indangerment.

I feel sorry for anyone that is knocked down at one of these but I also feel sorry for the person who ends up killing someone, they will have to live the the consiquences of it for the rest of their lives, and lets be honest it is only a matter of time!!

voxpop

I dundalk, there is actual traffic lights on the exit of a busy roundabout for pedestrians - so you go around the roundabout and the lights could be red to exit

The first time I thought - these couldnt be for me, that would be crazy - and exited the roundabout.

samsemtex

h3000 wrote: »

They are two in particular on the Dublin rd in Limerick cause that also. I personally think they are lethal.

The red lines on the images below are the approximate location of the crossings. This is one of the busiest roads in and out of Limerick city.

The blue arrow points to the one I find most dangerous.

Kilmurray


Groody





Totally agree but I would rather inconvenience them than kill/injure them.


.

The groody one is the one that came into my head instantly. Its a feckin disaster!

Vegeta

Its amazing to think that someone went to college and got a qualification and is being paid to put these in place. The ones in Limerick are just out and out dangerous. From word of mouth there has been more than one person knocked down already.

I hate roundabouts anyway (we over rely on them) and this just makes them even worse

Anan1

h3000 wrote: »

Totally agree but I would rather inconvenience them than kill/injure them.

In the case of the Glenageary roundabout at least, it's motorists rather than pedestrians who run the risk of an accident. The crossings are far enough from the roundabout to allow the first few cars to stop in complete safety, it's the cars exiting the roundabout into a queue of cars at a standstill who need to have their wits about them.

holly1

There is one where I live and when you stop at the crossing the person behind you coming off the roundabout has to slam on the brakes,as the crossing is around a slight corner.Its crazy

ardmacha

OK then, if you don't like these then show us a design for a junction which allows persons walking along a road to proceed in a direct way across the junction. Are you saying that they should just have a crossroads with traffic lights?

.Longshanks.

Anybody been in portlaoise recently? There are about 5 mini roundabout all within 100m of each other and each one has a zebra crossing it. In fact i think every roundabout in that town seems to have a zebra crossing it...

Atomic Pineapple

voxpop wrote: »

I dundalk, there is actual traffic lights on the exit of a busy roundabout for pedestrians - so you go around the roundabout and the lights could be red to exit

The first time I thought - these couldnt be for me, that would be crazy - and exited the roundabout.

That roundabout is just unbelievable so it is.

It causes absolute chaos when the lights go red, you have people on the roundabout trying to get off and next thing they come around to a red light and have to brake suddenly.

Your actually behind the lights when your sitting on the roundabout entrance too and the lights are behind you so you dont see that they've gone red and away you go on the roundabout only to be confronted by cars stopped on the other side of the roundabout!

Add to that the fact that no one understands why they are there and many people feel that the lights cant be for them as they are on a roundabout coming off it.

Ridiculous set up all together.

Healio

ardmacha wrote: »

OK then, if you don't like these then show us a design for a junction which allows persons walking along a road to proceed in a direct way across the junction. Are you saying that they should just have a crossroads with traffic lights?

A bridge?.

Anan1

Healio wrote: »

A bridge?.

A bridge with a ramp for prams, buggies, etc is a massive undertaking. Not to mention that at some roundabouts you'd need several of them.

Vegeta

Anan1 wrote: »

A bridge with a ramp for prams, buggies, etc is a massive undertaking. Not to mention that at some roundabouts you'd need several of them.

Or here's a simpler one, why not move them 100 yards down the road. So you're not just after looking in your mirror and indicating to take the exit at least if they were moved 100 yards you'd be looking straight ahead and much more likely to see anyone waiting to cross or notice any cars stopped

Anan1

Vegeta wrote: »

Or here's a simpler one, why not move them 100 yards down the road. So you're not just after looking in your mirror and indicating to take the exit at least if they were moved 100 yards you'd be looking straight ahead and much more likely to see anyone waiting to cross or notice any cars stopped

That would be better for cars, but worse for pedestrians. An extra 200 yards is a long way for an elderly person going to their local shops.

Vegeta

Anan1 wrote: »

That would be better for cars, but worse for pedestrians. An extra 200 yards is a long way for an elderly person going to their local shops.

Not getting run over is surely a win for pedestrians too?

And 200 yards is a short stroll its not a very long way at all regardless of age. Walking the half mile round trip to a shop is not going to suddenly be made difficult by an extra 200 yards.

h3000

Anan1 wrote: »

That would be better for cars, but worse for pedestrians. An extra 200 yards is a long way for an elderly person going to their local shops.

Getting a smack of a car would be worse than an extra bit of a walk though.

I don't know what the best solution is but the crossings at roundabouts are dangerous.

Anan1

Vegeta wrote: »

Not getting run over is surely a win for pedestrians too?

And 200 yards is a short stroll its not a very long way at all regardless of age. Walking the half mile round trip to a shop is not going to suddenly be made difficult by an extra 200 yards.

h3000 wrote: »

Getting a smack of a car would be worse than an extra bit of a walk though.

I don't know what the best solution is but the crossings at roundabouts are dangerous.

The ones in Glenageary are quite safe for pedestrians, any dangern present is only to traffic and occurs when traffic from the pedestrian lights tails back to the entrance to the roundabout.

Mr. Presentable

The ones on the N81 from Tallaght towards the M50. There are three sets of lights within c200m. The problem is that the second set is the pedestrian one and once a driver has passed the first he is concentrated on the third set, at the M50 roundabout. The number of near misses I have seen with pedestrians is unreal.

Obviously there is a big issue with driver attention, but the design is badly flawed.

h3000

h3000 wrote: »

Groody



.

Anan1 wrote: »

The ones in Glenageary are quite safe for pedestrians, any dangern present is only to traffic and occurs when traffic from the pedestrian lights tails back to the entrance to the roundabout.

I am not familiar with Glenageary at all.

The one pointed out in the blue arrow above is extremely dangerous to pedestrians and something really needs to be done about it.

Vegeta

h3000 wrote: »

I am not familiar with Glenageary at all..

Me neither

The ones in Limerick and especially around the Castletroy region can only be described as death traps and I'd much prefer a 100 yard walk on each side.

If a pedestrian crossing is dangerous for drivers it means its dangerous for pedestrians

Anan1

Vegeta wrote: »

If a pedestrian crossing is dangerous for drivers it means its dangerous for pedestrians

I think that depends, in some cases it's not the crossing itslef but the tailbacks it produces that can be dangerous. That said, i'm not familiar with h3000's example myself - unlike Glenageary, it doesn't look to be in a densely residential area.

h3000

Anan1 wrote: »

I think that depends, in some cases it's not the crossing itslef but the tailbacks it produces that can be dangerous. That said, i'm not familiar with h3000's example myself - unlike Glenageary, it doesn't look to be in a densely residential area.

It would be quite a dense residential area alright. The area is Castletroy. The University of Limerick is located to the north of the photo as you look at it and to the south there is quite a good bit of both student and (normal?:))residential accommodation

markpb

Healio wrote: »

A bridge?.

You would need four bridges to allow pedestrians to cross from all four arms of the roundabout. All the bridges would need steps and a ramp and be high enough to allow abnormally high loads through. The ramps needed to facilitate that height would take up huge amounts of space at all ends and would mean a lot of extra walking for pedestrians.

Underpasses would be more appropriate (and are used extensively in Los Angeles, London and Paris) but with the almost complete lack of enforcement of anti-social behaviour laws, most people would take their chances crossing the road, especially at night.

This boils down to the fact that people expect to be able to drive without being bothered by pedestrians and are driving too fast to stop safely. If you see pedestrian crossings on the entry arm, why wouldn't you expect them on the exit arm and drive at an appropriate speed?

ardmacha

This boils down to the fact that people expect to be able to drive without being bothered by pedestrians and are driving too fast to stop safely.

Exactly. Roundabouts promote traffic movement, but they are often replaced by traffic lights because some motorists can't manage to use them responsibly.

The only design change I would suggest is a filter lane for traffic turning left, who don't get a good view of the road they are tuning into. People going straight should be able to see the crossing ahead of them without difficulty.

B11gt00e

markpb wrote: »

You would need four bridges to allow pedestrians to cross from all four arms of the roundabout. All the bridges would need steps and a ramp and be high enough to allow abnormally high loads through. The ramps needed to facilitate that height would take up huge amounts of space at all ends and would mean a lot of extra walking for pedestrians.

Underpasses would be more appropriate (and are used extensively in Los Angeles, London and Paris) but with the almost complete lack of enforcement of anti-social behaviour laws, most people would take their chances crossing the road, especially at night.

This boils down to the fact that people expect to be able to drive without being bothered by pedestrians and are driving too fast to stop safely. If you see pedestrian crossings on the entry arm, why wouldn't you expect them on the exit arm and drive at an appropriate speed?

Very good points.

Was just about to make a similar suggestion on underpasses with the same opinion as you on the all likely anit-social behaviour which would arise here with such a venue!!

schween

steve06 wrote: »

No they have them in Spain, as well as these which are useful for wheelchairs and people with prams!

The Spanish are crazy for them. They are everywhere! I also find it funny at junctions when you the light goes green for you to turn right, as you turn right through the junction there is another pedestrian crossing that you may have to stop for. Madness!

dudara

My favourite is the Walkinstown roundabout. When exiting off the roundabout, heading for Kimmage, it's possible to exit from 3 lanes. So as a driver, you're completely occupied with watching for anyone taking the exit from another lane.

But then you come straight onto a pedestrian crossing, which, to boot, has a small junction just before it.

The design is lunacy. There is too much happening all at once.