Big Boy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:48 am
HaHa, I was expecting the photographic evidence
Seriously, when you gather your evidence, forget you are in Thailand, and forget what the Thais and tourists are doing on that roundabout. You might see the whole picture
I took pics late afternoon but far too much traffic to prove my point. However, I did a walk through and I'll repeat categorically that it is a half roundabout. Coming from Soi 88 east, which merges with traffic from the railway line, after going over the rail crossing you enter a 2 lane road as if approaching a junction. The left lane is straight on or left and the right lane is straight on or right. The latter actually touches the centre of the roundabout.
Try coming from Soi 88 north and doing a u-turn using the roundabout. Absolutely impossible as you will run straight into mainstream traffic which is not part of the roundabout.
I wish I had a drone to do an overhead shot but I will take some pics when there's less traffic.
I know what you are saying HHTel, and I don't disagree with you regarding what you say. However (yes, there has to be one ), forget the way the way the Thais use the roundabout, and forget the stupid road markings. Think of it as a roundabout, and apply the Thai Highway Code. It is a roundabout - you just need to take the Thais out of the equation.
A typical example of this is on Soi 88, where, if travelling West, you want to go straight on past Cong Carter, instead of following the road to the left. Road markings are very clear regarding who has the right of way, but the Thais don't operate that junction that way.
Thais roads are simple if you remove the Thai population first.
HHTel wrote: ↑Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:17 am
Not having a go at you Handdrummer, but I do often wonder why the Americans find it so difficult to 'switch sides'. I drove most of my life in the UK and when driving in Europe, switching to the other side wasn't a problem. Driving from Thailand into Laos, where the transition is much quicker, has never been a problem.
A little like the Americans finding difficulty with any currency that's not in dollars even though pretty much all currencies are decimal!
Switching sides was no problem but I'd never seen a roundabout and was confused about which way to go. It was around 5:30 pm, drivers going home from work and cars whizzing around, in and out of the roundabout. It only happened once. The week end in Cornwall was lovely. My favorite place in England and the only time I saw the sun shine between Nov and April.
To know about roundabouts (traffic circles in US) you needed to live on the East Coast, particularly the Northeast. I don't think there were ever any built west of Ohio. I think most were decommissioned and torn out in the 70's. There may be a few left on seldom used routes as an historical fixture, I'm not sure. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
The US have installed around 5,000 roundabouts in the last decade with thousands more in the planning stages. The US is seeing a huge increase in the building of roundabouts. Although each time a roundabout is announced, there are protests for no apparent reason.
That's a real problem because researchers say roundabouts can save lives. According to data by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or signals were previously used for traffic control." Apart from preventing cars from crashing into each other, roundabouts also saved the lives of countless pedestrians.
Carmel, Indiana has the most roundabouts and has won awards for the most picturesque.
News to me having been gone for a long, long time. I wish them luck. They tore them out for a reason as well the first time around. Different generation, different thinking. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
HHTel wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:03 pm
The US have installed around 5,000 roundabouts in the last decade with thousands more in the planning stages. The US is seeing a huge increase in the building of roundabouts. Although each time a roundabout is announced, there are protests for no apparent reason.
That's a real problem because researchers say roundabouts can save lives. According to data by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or signals were previously used for traffic control." Apart from preventing cars from crashing into each other, roundabouts also saved the lives of countless pedestrians.
Carmel, Indiana has the most roundabouts and has won awards for the most picturesque.
Churchill was right then when he said you can trust the Americans to do the right thing,eventually.
We just returned from a trip to Ireland and it must be the inventor of roundabouts. They had so many that I swear there were roundabouts in their roundabouts. I did like them though.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
When they disappeared in the US it was the era of expanding 2 and 3 lane highways into 4 and 6 lane. With that came entry and exit ramps, and overpasses. Living and driving all over the country I can't say I encountered any between 1972 and 1993 except in New Jersey.
Yes, we did have 3 lane highways with the center lane a passing lane for both directions. Of course solid lines and broken lines would be staggered each side. That didn't mean from time to time there wouldn't be two cars heading directly towards each other. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Frank Blackmore was responsible for the 'modern roundabout. However, born in Algeria, moved to Switzerland and eventually to Colchester with the Transport Research Centre. Later he was an adviser in Bangkok, Baghdad and California.
He's dead now! (not killed on a roundabout.... lol)
HHTel wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:03 pm
The US have installed around 5,000 roundabouts in the last decade with thousands more in the planning stages. The US is seeing a huge increase in the building of roundabouts. Although each time a roundabout is announced, there are protests for no apparent reason.
That's a real problem because researchers say roundabouts can save lives. According to data by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or signals were previously used for traffic control." Apart from preventing cars from crashing into each other, roundabouts also saved the lives of countless pedestrians.
Carmel, Indiana has the most roundabouts and has won awards for the most picturesque.
Churchill was right then when he said you can trust the Americans to do the right thing,eventually.
Was that before or after he & Roosevelt sold out Eastern Europe to Stalin?
I hope he isn't responsible for the road designs in Bangkok and copied elsewhere. I love going East for a kilometer so I can make a U-turn to go West 1 kilometer. The person that came up with that "idea" should have been taken out and shot.
I've been round the Arc de Triomphe roundabout dozens of times. I'd love to see a similar structure roundabout in Thailand complete with it's 12 exits. They can gridlock a 4 exit roundabout here. I wonder how they'd approach this one. A point in their favour is that in France you give way to traffic entering the roundabout, something many drivers do here.
), forget the way the way the Thais use the roundabout, and forget the stupid road markings. Think of it as a roundabout, and apply the Thai Highway Code. It is a roundabout - you just need to take the Thais out of the equation.
Pete 