Driving habits of rural folk

[ovrszd]

I saw my first roundabout in Europe. I've saw them in many other countries. We were late to the party. I have no problems with them. Memory serving me correctly,,,, I think there's a roundabout in Paris with 4 or 5 lanes. Used by tens of thousands of vehicles per day with minimal incidents.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I think all the people that are going to interelate in a traffic circle should have an off-site safety meeting first to indicate what everyones intentions are.

To make matters worse, the signage here is often very ambiguous, so as you are going around, you see an unfamiliar sign, not knowing if that's for you or not. Maybe you are on a numbered highway, but a street name is mentioned instead.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've learned to let go of the person behind me and concentrate on the situation in front of me. I won't speed up for them. I won't tap my brake lights. If they hit me, it's their fault, their choice.

The one concession that I will make is to increase the distance between me and the car ahead. That gives me a cushion in case traffic does stop suddenly. It also gives him someplace to go if he does decide to pass me, safely or otherwise. In some circles that would require me to give up my man-card but, oh well.
I find that I'm a much better driver if I concentrate on what I'm doing.


Roundabouts aren't much of a problem here; what confuses people is that middle lane to pull into when turning left, or to stop in while waiting for the travel lane to clear. In theory you can turn left across one lane of traffic, then wait for the other to clear. Instead it causes people to panic and slam on their brakes thinking that you are going to pull in front of them.
Often they're so far back that they would have to try really hard to make contact...

 

[Industrial Toys]

I would be interested to know what kind of following distance automatic systems allow for. I hope it's orders of magnitude longer than what so many brainless people practice as their SOP!

 

[ovrszd]

The one concession that I will make is to increase the distance between me and the car ahead. That gives me a cushion in case traffic does stop suddenly. It also gives him someplace to go if he does decide to pass me, safely or otherwise. In some circles that would require me to give up my man-card but, oh well.
I find that I'm a much better driver if I concentrate on what I'm doing.

Agreed. I leave distance between me and the vehicle in front of me as country people do. In the city I often get passed.

 

[3930dave]

I think all the people that are going to interelate in a traffic circle should have an off-site safety meeting first to indicate what everyones intentions are.

To make matters worse, the signage here is often very ambiguous, so as you are going around, you see an unfamiliar sign, not knowing if that's for you or not. Maybe you are on a numbered highway, but a street name is mentioned instead.

Crossover chuckle with another thread......... got a flashup visual of driverless cars perpetually stuck in a traffic-circle.... a la European Vacation

In the real-world I like the circles, for light to moderate traffic. as long as they're large enough to handle today's long highway trailers.

Rgds, D.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just putting existing traffic signals on flashing amber would work just as well. If no one is coming, just give er. If in doubt, STOP. Pretty much the same things people do in the circles.

 

[MossRoad]

The one concession that I will make is to increase the distance between me and the car ahead. That gives me a cushion in case traffic does stop suddenly. It also gives him someplace to go if he does decide to pass me, safely or otherwise. In some circles that would require me to give up my man-card but, oh well.
I find that I'm a much better driver if I concentrate on what I'm doing.


Roundabouts aren't much of a problem here; what confuses people is that middle lane to pull into when turning left, or to stop in while waiting for the travel lane to clear. In theory you can turn left across one lane of traffic, then wait for the other to clear. Instead it causes people to panic and slam on their brakes thinking that you are going to pull in front of them.
Often they're so far back that they would have to try really hard to make contact...

Pretty sure it's illegal to use the center turn lane as a merge lane.

And NO, you cannot left turn across one lane of traffic and wait for the other lane of traffic to clear.

 

[MossRoad]

Just putting existing traffic signals on flashing amber would work just as well. If no one is coming, just give er. If in doubt, STOP. Pretty much the same things people do in the circles.

Party one - officer, I had the yellow light.
Party two - officer, I had the yellow light.

 

[5030]

Party one - officer, I had the yellow light.
Party two - officer, I had the yellow light.

..... and the one with the largest vehicle wins.................