Safe Speed Forums

I do sometimes wonder just how many drivers suffer a rise in their blood pressure when faced with a succession of traffic lights at roundabouts, increasingly now seen where there are junctions with major trunk roads.

I feel that the jockeying for position as the lights change, with cars frequently having got caught in the wrong lane must be a recipe for accidents and would be interested in accident statistics at such junctions.

Although I can just see some validity for them in heavy traffic situations, more often than not one is left waiting pointlessly, up to 3 times, in the small hours of the morning just to make a right turn onto or off a Motorway or Trunk Road. Even when they are supposedly "Peak Hours Only" it never actually seems to be the case.

Peak hours operate from the hours of 00:01 to 23:59 to ensure a steady flow of traffic. We thank you for your co-operation.

Lol! So at 00:00 the lights briefly flicker off? (And then next year they'll change it to 00:00 to 23:59, and congratulate themselves for improving road safety still further...)

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

Most I come across seem to be 'intelligent'. At quiet times they turn to red in all directions and turn green in the relevant direction when a vehicle is detected. The only problem is you have to approach quite slowly from the first set of sensors to avoid having to slow further or stop completely.

As for jockeying for position after being caught in the wrong lane:

Who designed the layout for the roundabout M606/M62 junction? Coming from the M62 Westbound you are directed into the right or centre lanes for the M606. Unfortunately only the centre one ever gets to the M606, the right hand lane circles the roundabout indefinately, or at best sends you back the way you came. An extra set of lights was recently introduced which should have been an opportunity to fix the problem but instead made it much worse as traffic heading for the M62 Eastbound now blocks any chance of getting out of the R/H lane.

Oh yes, how I love that junction. My visits to it are just far enough apart for me to forget how cr$p it is, and I always end up in the lane that just doesn't go to where it says it goes.


Kaz

Ah yes, intelligence, I remember that from the past. I don't think there's much of that about in the traffic planning departnents in the London area now; mainly it's bandwagons and political correctness that are behind the various schemes that are dreamed up.

I remember intelligent Traffic lights back in the 70s but I've not seen them lately. Problem round here is that there's always a steady trickle of traffic, even in the small hours, so the sort of intelligent traffic lights you describe probably wouldn't work. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the traffic levels outside peak hours would be ideally suited to the use of an ordinary roundabout!

Some of them have cured the "impossible" roundabout problem, whereby you have a roundabout that you can never get onto because there's always someone coming, so you have to "jump out" at some point, and usually end up stuck behind someone else who is unwilling to take any risks.

On the whole, I prefer there to be signals at these junctions which tend to work much better if phased correctly.

For example, it is much easier now South-East from Edgware Way (A41) onto Apex Corner since that road was included in the traffic light scheme.

I also remember how problematic the A312 "The Parkway" was heading North onto the White Hart roundabout before the traffic light was introduced in 1996.

the most dangerous lights at round a bouts are pedistrian lights.

they show green, and a driver, well this one anyway, can be confused into thinking the trafffic on the roundabout has a red light..

Not so , as I swerve brake and curse the bloody planners.. Will they get 60 quid and three points for nearly killing someone.. I dont think so.,


rgds

Bill Hollis

I agree with that completely - they have that at Highbury Corner (A1 and junctions of A1199 and A1200).

You get to the roundabout and see a green signal so assume you can go freely.

I am all for there being a pedestrian crossing light there, but in that case make the whole junction fully signalled.

Here is a new twist on the traffic light saga....

Pulled up at a set last night on my motorbike at about 12:30 AM.... Waited for them to change. Hmmm, they ignored me, ah well, they will change next cycle. Cars pull up at the other intersections and the lights change for them while I sit there. Starting to feel a nit neglected and more than a little discriminated against

I flashed my headlight in case they had light sensors, pushed my bike back and rode over the pressure pad again (It's a 195KG bike and 14 stone rider!) all of which did...... precisely nothing.

It's a large and open intersection. So I am faced with a dilemma. Sit there and either run out of fuel, or fall off due to hypothermia creeping up my legs or run a red light, which I don't approve of!

Eventually, common sense prevailed and making sure there were no lights visible anywhere, I took the decision to cross the intersection anyway. All was well that ends well, but there is no such thing as an intelligent traffic light programmer!!!



Bah humbug

Interesting, I have the same experience in Wakefield when I toddle up to a particular set of lights on my push bike. Have always assumed that me + bike just isn't heavy enough for the sensors; so either have to get off and walk across road, or wait for a car to come up behind me.

It's annoying, but can kinda see they might overlook push bikes when calibrating the sensors, but motorbikes? That's just insane!


Kaz

I think the lights that have sensors should also have a button you can press if you are cyclist.

I have read somewhere you can get devices to trigger the sensors.

By the time you've got off your bike to push the button, you may as well walk across the road. I have to say I've not seen these buttons though... I'll take a closer look next time.


Kaz

I noticed one set of intelligent lights a few weeks ago refusing to change even though a car and a van were parked on the sensors.

Caused me some frustration (on foot) as the pedestrian crossing is linked to the main lights and refuses to turn green unless the traffic lights do. Eventually enough of a queue built up to trigger a sensor further back.