Driving and Roads

Here is a picture from 1972 of the big island stage of the experiment in Sheffield. The MoT observers were in the bus.

s34648.jpg



​
https://trl.co.uk/reports/LR562
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No, I think I've seen one once, and thought what a good idea that is. It would confuse the hell out of drivers around here, and although dotted lines have been introduced on some roundabouts to hint at a "correct" course (not quite the spiral) they follow unnatural tracks (silly buggers). The M4 J24 roundabout gets close to the spiral, but you still have to deliberately follow the lane changes as you progress (rather than pick a marked lane at the beginning and stick with it).

Can't see any lane markings in that photo.

How did we get this far off AvP??? This sub-thread should be elsewhere!
 
I'd tend to agree with BH, they are around but not common. I think they may be more popular in some areas of the country.
The bigger problem these days is that with maintenance cut to the bone it's hard to know, on most roundabouts and major junctions, if there are actually any lane markings there at all.
 
prpr said:
Ever been to Swindon? You can go round the 'magic' roundabout the wrong way, although it is a macro-roundabout composed of mini-roundabouts.
Click to expand...
Very long time ago. I can just about remember there was an odd selection of mini-roundabouts.
 
Our highways department are so f*****g stupid that at one roundabout in particular they split the approaching two-lane carriageway into three queues (sensible, you might think, left straight and right) when there was only room for two lanes on the actual roundabout! I wrote to them about it (and a few other sillies), I don't know whether that did any good but there have been extensive revisions to lane marking since (introducing the dots).
 
There's a major rush-hour pinch point at M4J28. The planners decided there would be a better through-put if they completely removed the roundabout circulatory system (which is already stop-start because of traffic lights) and replace it with a huge traffic-light controlled "crossroads". Fortunately the plans were shelved because of the uncertainty in the M4 Newport Relief Road plans (diverting the M4 to the south of Newport over the marshes), whether or not the plans were better hardly made up for the years of disruption while they tried to dig up the roundabout with traffic still trying to get through.

A couple of years ago a "priority lane" was driven through the J24 roundabout to take the major flow from the A449 southbound direct to the M4 westbound, using traffic light crossroads where the flow crosses the roundabout circulation. Much less remodelling required, and that's what's now proposed for J28.
 
Perhaps the three lanes into two was to shorten the queues on the approach as in the 'Use both lanes and filter in turn' signs used on the approach to some, but not enough, roadworks. Doing the above increases the flow through the works as it seems to overcomes the slow start up inertia of some drivers.
 
Trev said:
Perhaps the three lanes into two was to shorten the queues on the approach as in the 'Use both lanes and filter in turn' signs used on the approach to some, but not enough, roadworks. Doing the above increases the flow through the works as it seems to overcomes the slow start up inertia of some drivers.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, at the front of a hold-up there is frequently someone who needs a written invitation in triplicate before they pull into a gap.
 
I was thinking about the single lane approach where every driver tends to leave a three car gap before he starts off, leaving a whole bunch of space for those in the other lane to filter in. It's the multitude of d*** heads that get up tight about you 'pushing in' that upsets the whole concept.
 
Stephen Fry (ultimate pillock) says that when approaching a lane-merge, you should filter in as soon as possible. For somebody of supposedly high intelligence, that's very stupid. The only sensible place to merge is at the lane closure, and everyone should stay in their current lane (or join the shortest queue) before that.

Unfortunately many roadworks situations on motorways merge three lanes into one, and then the maths isn't so easy.
 
Don't they usually merge three into two and then two into one a bit further down the road? That's my limited experience of the motorway parking merging regime.
 
Highway code rule 288 "When the ‘Road Works Ahead’ sign is displayed,...Use your mirrors and get into the correct lane for your vehicle in good time and as signs direct...Where lanes are restricted due to road works, merge in turn." (However, rule 134 "It [merge in turn] is not recommended at high speed.")
 
Trev said:
Don't they usually merge three into two and then two into one a bit further down the road? That's my limited experience of the motorway parking merging regime.
Click to expand...
Yes, but that ends up favouring the first lane that closes at the expense of the lane that doesn't close.

EEPhil said:
Highway code rule 288 "When the ‘Road Works Ahead’ sign is displayed,...Use your mirrors and get into the correct lane for your vehicle in good time and as signs direct...Where lanes are restricted due to road works, merge in turn." (However, rule 134 "It [merge in turn] is not recommended at high speed.")
Click to expand...
That's as may be, but in a two-into-one situation, merging early gives a huge advantage to the lane that is closing. To make it fair, there needs to be a defined point at which lanes should seek to merge. Vehicles merging before that point increase the merge ratio in favour of the closing lane.

So what can we use as the defined point? Can't use the "lane closure ahead" sign, because that gives no warning. Umm... how about the cones as the defined point?
 
Black Hole said:
merging early gives a huge advantage to the lane that is closing.
Click to expand...
That advantage is why so many people seem to get the hump when you take advantage of this fact and 'shoot down the outside' and then 'merge in turn' as suggested by the HC and they then realise that perhaps that's what they should have done. (or they just don't think anything other than 'How dare he do that?')
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top