Roads and Roundabouts

Techy_1

This is a Roundabout

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Delgany,+Ireland&hl=en&ll=53.133345,-6.078041&spn=0.001867,0.003449&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.27343,56.513672&t=h&hnear=Delgany,+County+Wicklow,+Ireland&layer=c&cbll=53.133345,-6.078039&panoid=HPBQ8TF_FuPqISCoectEeg&z=18&cbp=12,245.76,,0,12.04

When coming from the Mill Road you have right of way on it, when on the top road you do not. I seen a car today fly past it as if it were'nt there a few seconds earlier and we would have collided (I was coming from Mill Road).

The amount of times i've had cars nearly rear end me and then flash or beep at me when its clearly a roundabout.
Any one else had this issue or confused by it.

pixbyjohn

It seems that the layout coming from Kilcoole to the roundabout confuses drivers. The road approaches onto the roundabout too straight and this is what causes the problem. Yes I have witnessed many near crashes there.
The layout is there a long time now so you would expect regular users to know that they should approach with caution and slow down in readiness to stop and give way to their right.

Cerco

Techy_1 wrote: »

This is a Roundabout

When coming from the Mill Road you have right of way on it, when on the top road you do not. I seen a car today fly past it as if it were'nt there a few seconds earlier and we would have collided (I was coming from Mill Road).

The amount of times i've had cars nearly rear end me and then flash or beep at me when its clearly a roundabout.
Any one else had this issue or confused by it.

Perhaps you misunderstand the rules regarding roundabouts. You give way to traffic already on the roundabout i.e. coming from your right. This does not mean cars on Mill Road have priority. All cars approaching have same priority which is why drivers should excercise caution. Assuming you have priority is what leads to near misses.

The main problem here is that the roundabout is too small to cater for the volume of traffic. This is exacerbated by irresponsible driving.

pixbyjohn

Cerco wrote: »

Perhaps you misunderstand the rules regarding roundabouts. You give way to traffic already on the roundabout i.e. coming from your right.

This is exactly what he meant, he was on the roundabout having come from Mill Road and the car from the Kilcoole direction entered the roundabout without giving way to him. I don't think the OP misunderstood the rules regarding roundabouts at all.

Taltos

I always follow the sequence from the US intersections where there is a flashing red light in Oregon.
> Stop
> Proceed in sequence in which you stopped
> Anyone driving straight through or not yielding to someone there before them can be pulled by the police.

So here with the roundabout
> Stop / yield
> give way to cars from the right
Cars from Kilcoole - I also regularly see them blasting across this gap, have had one or two near misses myself and I really do think it is probably only a matter of time before some moron causes a serious crash / death here by blatantly ignoring the rules of the road.

I partly blame the road layout, it is just too easy coming from Kilcoole to fire ahead, coming down the hill it is very easy to pick up a bit more speed than you realise and cars to your immediate right are slightly hidden and so easily forgotten.

MyPerfectCousin

Part of the problem is that there are two roundabouts almost adjacent to each other. The cars coming from Kilcoole have clear sight of the second one, and cars entering it from Delgany and Killincarrig, and are probably focused on that if they don't know better. The first one is less obvious and cars entering from Greystones can seem to come out of nowhere.

DubOnHoliday

It would help somewhat if people would use their indicators, so you dont have to guess where they are going...
In general roundabouts in Greystones and specially charlesland seem to have no rules.

aloyisious

Are there "Yield Right of Way" signs on all the approach roads to the round-about in the photo? It's a horror.

pixbyjohn

20121213-roundabout

Viva La Gloria

It's gas when three cars are stopped at that roundabout though, no one knows who should go first.

pixbyjohn

If roundabouts are used correctly there should be minimal cause for cars to actually stop

LifeBeginsAt40

pixbyjohn wrote: »

If roundabouts are used correctly there should be minimal cause for cars to actually stop

A great road rule used in the Channel Islands is that vehicles have to give way alternatively on roundabouts.

So you filter onto the roundabout in turn; one vehicle enters roundabout, next vehicle waiting has to give way to one vehicle already on roundabout, then is allowed to enter.

It works perfectly and prevents all those lengthy queues where no vehicle can enter a roundabout; such as Southern Cross N11 area of Bray.
It's a rule of the road, so if you do not allow vehicles to enter the roundabout in turn, you can be fined.

They are even introducing filter-in-turn at junctions too - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-16969694

Sadly we wont ever see anything as sensible in Ireland.

The Bishop Basher

Viva La Gloria wrote: »

It's gas when three cars are stopped at that roundabout though, no one knows who should go first.

I love these roundabouts. I rarely have to wait as everyone seems to wait for everyone else leaving a clear roundabout for the rest of us. Only problem is when you get stuck behind one of these fools.

yoshiktk

pixbyjohn wrote: »

If roundabouts are used correctly there should be minimal cause for cars to actually stop

Just don't forget to add proper use of indicators at roundabout...
I lost count how many times instead of smooth drive thru I had to brake because for some ppl its to hard to use them. Besides that ,more roundabouts. I just hope that they won't be done like this Magic Roundabout.

matt-dublin

John, im concerned you have way too many pictures of greystones. at this stage you will be able to make your own google streetview!!!!

Alun

matt-dublin wrote: »

John, im concerned you have way too many pictures of greystones. at this stage you will be able to make your own google streetview!!!!

I think you'll find that IS a Google Streetview photo

http://goo.gl/maps/cWv5i

pixbyjohn

matt-dublin wrote: »

John, im concerned you have way too many pictures of greystones. at this stage you will be able to make your own google streetview!!!!

Alun wrote: »

I think you'll find that IS a Google Streetview photo

http://goo.gl/maps/cWv5i

As Alun says it is a google street view pic. If you click on the pic it will lead you to my Flickr where I have credited it as a google pic.
But I do have at least a million photos of Wicklow of my own

Techy_1

Its good to see its not just me that faces this issue.
While near misses are the safety issue everyone waiting to see what everyone else does boarder lines between funny & annoying at times.

Welsh Wizard

Had a near miss there today, some pr!ck in a silver audi jeep and then drove off at speed... Ar$e hole..!

DubOnHoliday

I was driving home from work on Friday about 6:30pm I came to these set of round abouts, I saw about 10 cars pass though, not one car indicated properly, including the polo in front of me who quite possibly had no concept of indicators on his car. Its an accident waiting to happen.

recedite

There are 3 kinds of priority that can be encountered on the roads;

1. Main road priority; in theory all or most junctions except roundabouts.

2. First Come First Served or Filter- In Turn; What you would use at a junction of two similar sized roads with neither being the obvious main road. They still use this in the Channel Islands. Both cars slow and stop, then the one waiting longer proceeds. In theory all our minor roads will have a Yield sign, but there are still junctions in remote parts where you might need to apply this rule.

3. Priority from the right; What we use at roundabouts.

Give way to traffic approaching from your right, unless signs, road markings or traffic lights tell you otherwise.

Cerco wrote: »

Perhaps you misunderstand the rules regarding roundabouts. You give way to traffic already on the roundabout i.e. coming from your right. This does not mean cars on Mill Road have priority. All cars approaching have same priority

It is incorrect to say all cars have the same priority.
A car coming from Mill Road has priority over a car coming from Kilcoole at the same time.
On large roundabouts, "traffic from the right" is the same as" traffic already on the roundabout" but on a mini-roundabout, where two cars can arrive at the same time (potentially on a collision course) it is especially important to observe the rule "give way to traffic from the right".

pixbyjohn wrote: »

It seems that the layout coming from Kilcoole to the roundabout confuses drivers. The road approaches onto the roundabout too straight and this is what causes the problem. Yes I have witnessed many near crashes there.
The layout is there a long time now so you would expect regular users to know that they should approach with caution and slow down in readiness to stop and give way to their right.

I agree with this. A driver coming from Kilcoole sees the second roundabout straight ahead, but the first one at Mill Road is partially hidden around the corner, being off-centre of the main road.
There is a certain negligence in allowing this faulty layout. Its unfair to visiting drivers, and even locals aren't safe because you never know when someone will come down that hill and plough into the side of your vehicle, thinking they have main road priority.