Safe Speed Forums

In my local area, over the past 5 or so years, the council have installed a number of traffic calming measures, including chicanes.

Chicanes slow people down, granted. But I do question the logic of forcing motorists on to the wrong side of the road at a blind bend, as a number of chicanes do in my neck of the woods.

I have witnessed 2 head on collisions at these chicanes, they occured at low speed and luckily no one was hurt.

Without wishing to influence opinion, what does everyone else think? Are chicanes an effective road safety measure?

Nope, they just reduce road capacity and create needless conflict.

At least they don't break your springs like humps do, though.

Here's a particularly stupid chicane on the A559 at Lower Stretton near Warrington:

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

absolutely lethal for cyclists because it seems that every twunt you encounter at these things thinks they have the right to drive over the top of you.

I wasn't too bothered at first when they installed them on a road near me. But then I found I was on a collsion course with several cyclists not using the cycle path on my side of the road. The chicanes come right out to the middle of the road and you have to be very careful of cyclists coming the other way.
Cars stop and wait but cyclists don't because there is a gap near the kerb for them to get through.

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Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

Hell no.

Whereas some people may have been going 1% to 5% faster than the maximum safe speed before the chicanes they are going 5% to 10% faster than the maximum safe speed. It's a theory anyway. I have no proof.

Also having to stop and wait and/or swerve (I mean drive gently) around these things above (I mean under) the speed limit is frustrating.
Since when did encouraging road rage become a good idea?

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Andrew.

I'm a definitely against them. They are just a total frustration in medium traffic. And at busy times sheer madness. I was in Dorset recently and had about 5 to negotiate down to the coast. Traffic was light but at every one I had to stop. A local village I frequent has them on all approach roads waste if time money fuel and in my opinion safety.

Richard

Chicanes do seem to incite conflict, I agree.

They also seem to bring the worst out in drivers, selfish behaviour, agression, etc.

They must increase fuel consumption too. Stop start traffic is not good for fuel economy.

I'm aware chicanes are effective at reducing mean speeds on a stretch of road, but from what i've seen they seem to result in high speeds between
each chicane, in order to "beat" the driver approaching in the opposite direction, avoiding having to giveway. They is definately a distinct minority who indulge in this behaviour.

IMO can i make it before the other driver makes their move

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now retired

similar discussion on this thread...

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6320

for reference.

They effectively make the road more dangerous, in order to force people to slow down, which is extremely wrong headed IMO, suggests we have lost sight of the reason we have speed limits in the first place. I know those ones on the A559 all too well Peter, though I can't see the picture. What benefit a chicane before a blind bend is supposed to have for safety I don't know.

In Crawley some of these chicanes also have speed humps. All they need to do now is to add a speed camera and voila - the safest piece of road in the world!

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Nick

are these really called chicanes? I thought they were mini contraflows? Still not a good idea to put bidirectional traffic in conflict imvho.

In Wigan there are some chicanes which take the form of a traffic island about 4' wide (so the chicane is to the left, two full lanes - one in each direction) for 50 or so feet. They seem to work better, at 30 they aren't much more than a bend in the road, higher speeds may be uncomfortable. No cameras, no humps.

It's not too clear but this is an aerial picture, it's Montrose Avenue in Kitt Green, you can see the chicane with the two opposed arrows when you look at the map version.

The drawback is that they require space, the road is of course at least 4' wider for that distance plus the widening and narrowing bits.

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

This is interesting as Handy has raised something I was thinking. There are, what I would call, chicanes on my way to work and these are like those described (i.e. a "layby" type extension to the side of the road and a wide island to make you do a left/right swerve).

I don't think of the narrowing of the road to only allow one way to pass as a chicane.

Of course, all this does is make a good test for the boy racers - same speed, more challenging. I have even been following someone who went the other side of the island to miss the swerve.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Hi malcomb,
These type of chicanes have been put in Burton by the hospital. The idea was emergency vehicles could go past them on the wrong side of the road so they did not lose speed. People in the know do this in clear traffic to save stop start driving.

Richard

Yet another confounded waste of our money if you're asking me. Are you? Oh, you are, well right then!

About three or four years ago North Yorkshire County Council consulted local residents about their plans for constructing two chicanes in a 30 mph area near us. I told them not to waste our money on the scheme, but apparently most of the residents who bothered to reply wanted chicanes, so we got them.

At one location the design is such that you could drive straight through it at 70 mph if you were so minded. I'm not so minded but I can assure you it would be possible.

At the other location the chicane is placed at a curve in the road, such that had I not approached it very cautiously a few weeks ago, I could easily have had a head on shunt with a bus coming the other way. The priority was mine as I was leaving the calmed area, (huh, calmed area indeed!) but the bus driver was committed to coming through first on a course dictated quite naturally by the size of his vehicle. This meant that unlike a car, or other smallish vehicle, he could not nip back to his own side of the road and give way to me.

My conclusion from all this is that our money has been wasted constructing something that (a) does not slow traffic down in the slightest degree, and (b) at the other end of the area introduced a hazard we did not previously have. The whole thing is complete nonsense.

What should happen here is that those who demand, authorise, design and construct such abominations should be made to dig them up and reinstate the road configuration to how it was previously, entirely at their own expense. I'd soon cure them of this buffoonery.

OK, all relax now.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

To walk alongside a road with chicanes is more nervewracking than to walk along the same road unrestricted with traffic travelling 10 to 15mph over the speed limit.

You have vehicles travelling directly towards you, as they negotiate the chicanes. Often racing to get through before the vehicle coming in the opposite direction.

The chicanes initially seem a good place to cross but crossing at the pinch point is impossible as you always have traffic flowing in one direction or the other.

And then you have the nutters who decide they can't wait and drive up the pavement instead.

They are not a road safety feature they are there to make the council look like they are doing something.

They hammer fuel consumption, they concentrate drivers attention on the wrong thing and I am certain they are contributing to sales of larger vehicles as everyone tries to get one up in the bullying race.

Can anybody think of even one good reason for having these things?
They must be there for a reason but I can't think what it is...

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Andrew.

1) To spend the remainder of the road budget before the end of the financial year, ensuring next years budget is equal or greater.

2) To appease the speed kills brigade, at any cost, even if accident levels and road rage incidents increase.

3) To make roads more dangerous for cyclists.

They made a previously uncongested local road near me congested.

Chicanes = bad.

Prize example - fitted on a through road - resident with driveway couldn't get car in in reverse at night , and fought to get out in morning - cost to put in -approx £3k.Cost to take out =approx £8k.
Another estate - mothers who couldn't keep their gates /doors closed and let kids play on main road get chicane /bumps/tank traps.
Fire Brigade decides to find out problems --sends unit out at speed on fact finding mission - County council now need new fire engine - chicanes ( with humps ) remodeled - now possible to take them at 60 in a dice with death/ play chicken with opposing traffic -

And they call it safer

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on