Britain's First 'Dutch-Style' Roundabout Closed 10 Days After Opening When Car Ploughed Into Beacon
- Thread starter Deus
- Start date
Car driver on his way to Barnard Castle perhaps?
Interesting, but I see problems here (Germany) with RAs, that have a normal zebra crossing (similar to where the bikes go here), when placed too close to the traffic ring, as a car gets blocked, halts for a pedestrian (slower than a bike!), and the car(s) behind simply plough into the rear of the stopped car!
Too my mind, there should be room for say about 2 cars to halt without blocking the ring.....but of course it will need more space, if that was done.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Regards
Andy
Another reason to visit Barnard Castle then. Its bad driving by car drivers that needs controlling then.
I have to plead ignorance (I have lived longer in Germany now than anywhere else on this planet, 39 years!), what is Barnard Castle?
I only found this:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard_Castle
Is this exactly what you were referring to? If yes, why?
Andy
Dominic Cummings says he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight – video
The senior political adviser says he drove from Durham to Barnard Castle before returning to London for work to see if he could drive safely after his eyesight became affected by coronavirus
www.theguardian.com
I remember the "outing" on the news, but I did not catch the destination!Dominic Cummings says he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight – video
The senior political adviser says he drove from Durham to Barnard Castle before returning to London for work to see if he could drive safely after his eyesight became affected by coronavirus
Many thanks
Andy
Not many Brits know that!The Germans love our comedy, still repeating Dinner for One every Christmas
But its actually not at Christmas, its transmitted on 3rd German TV stations (regional) on New Years Eve, (evening), at various times.
Now several TV stations have produced versions in German, or even completely rewritten it, with good actors, again in German, but also with regional accents and some new material.
All are really great.
Andy
PS. Its a great show of Freddy Frinton and May Warden . Timeless comedy. See here the English language version that is still shown every year, IN ENGLISH! Here is the film:-
This may help anyone interested in further detail and is a very accurate representation of both the original and other versions (also shown in other countries!):-
Dinner for One - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The stage show I also remember ads, for sometime in the late 50's early 60's maybe, in London. My father drove past the theater....
regards
Andy
PS. At the end of the film is a saucy joke for 1963, when NDR (Nord Deutsche Rundfunk), made the film in Hamburg!
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And the Dane's for New Year. Apparently they didn't show it on New Year and there was nearly rioting.The Germans love our comedy, still repeating Dinner for One every Christmas
I hadn't heard of it till our Danish friends told us about it.
What a design disaster! A 5 minute video shows lorrys waiting to get onto the roundabout block cycles & pedestrians, cars leaving the roundabout have to stop with dangerously exposed back ends until there's a gap in the cyclists - just a few cycles causes gridlock on the roundabout. The long bendy-bus just doesn't fit.
Note the driving on the right, I suspect this is a genuine Dutch roundabout used as template for Cambridge
Personal experience says cyclists already have right of way over motorists in some counties in Scandinavia & Europe. Many UK drivers can't cope with the existing rules of the road, expecting them to cope with never-seen-before-in-UK systems is dangerous & crazy.
Note the driving on the right, I suspect this is a genuine Dutch roundabout used as template for Cambridge
Personal experience says cyclists already have right of way over motorists in some counties in Scandinavia & Europe. Many UK drivers can't cope with the existing rules of the road, expecting them to cope with never-seen-before-in-UK systems is dangerous & crazy.
Fully agree. It just about works there because 70% of them cycle and only about 20% of them drive cars regularly.
Here with only a small minority cycling and well over half the population driving it would cause many accidents and could paralyse our roads in some places.
.
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Whenever I return from the continent in my camper van, it is immediately noticeable just how much more traffic there is on UK roads.
This style of roundabout will not work here, it will simply clog up all the traffic.
Also, I suspect that we build far more roundabouts than Europe.
For all the effort involved in building such a structure, I wonder if it would cost much more to provide pedestrian and cycle underpasses. There is one such roundabout outside Ypres where instead of an outer ring, there are underpasses, so my guess is that even in Europe the debate is still on.
This style of roundabout will not work here, it will simply clog up all the traffic.
Also, I suspect that we build far more roundabouts than Europe.
For all the effort involved in building such a structure, I wonder if it would cost much more to provide pedestrian and cycle underpasses. There is one such roundabout outside Ypres where instead of an outer ring, there are underpasses, so my guess is that even in Europe the debate is still on.
Definitely true, the Dutch have excellent overpasses for biycles too and clearly haven't found which are the best solutions yet.
.
Where I live there are some under passes at roundabouts, ok in daylight but not so inviting when groups or gangs gather and a no go at night.
The Dutch go with fitness for purpose and increase the separation of cycles from motor traffic where motor traffic speed is higher.
I honestly don't understand the kickback from cyclists with this roundabout. The safety issue is entirely around the speed of motor traffic, and infrastructure like this is designed to reduce that. What needs to change is the 'rush rush' selfish culture of people sat behind a steering wheel and observing any regular UK roundabout will confirm that. Am genuinely sorry if some find this offensive but we cyclists in the UK have nothing positive to teach the Dutch about designing public highways. And yes, reducing the aggressive nature of motorists does have to begin with changing the infrastructure, by making the infrastructure more democratic for everyone.
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