had a little accident!

[johnakay]

last tuesday we were waiting at a roundabout waiting to go(a lot of traffic)
watch a jag/car coming from my left as he pass's I pull out and bugger me he stopped right in my line of path.
no way could I avoid him caught his bumper with my crash bars(nothing else)
we manage to stay upright.
the crash bar's took the hit and bent in by about 12mm and that was approx 15mph or less.
other than that we're ok.
I stopped and waved to the other guy to follow me,we exchanged details .
anyway tomorrow I'll be settle the bill with him seeing its my fault.
like I've said in the past crash bars are only useful in a low speed crash etc

 

[sumo]

Glad to hear nobody hurt, hope the Jag is okay but it's hard to imagine it's not going to cost a small fortune. Over here we try to settle these fender benders without getting the insurance company involved.

 

[L.B.S.]

Ouch, sorry to hear John! Glad you (and missus?) didn't have a worse deal out of it though!

We have very few traffic circles or roundabouts here, and the ones there are, I am absolutely terrified of. I avoid them at all cost. No one knows how to use them, so it's mass confusion, and people being completely arbitrary as to what they are going to do once they are in one. Some stop dead, others floor it through without looking at all, others treat it like a 4 way stop, others a mix of yield to only their right, and not the first vehicle in the circle, and a lot of others simply will not enter, if there are any other cars approaching within eyesight, for blocks!

Pedestrians also have to fear for their lives, because the drivers aren't used to navigating a turn while going through an intersection. Invariably, they always swing way wide, and impinge upon the zone where people are walking, trying to look for other cars, and totally not paying attention to pedestrians or bicyclists.

Anyone coming to Vancouver, stay away from these! We do not know how to drive here as it is, but these are another level of danger entirely...

 

[Nofxguy]

We have roundabouts everywhere here in Australia, if you know how to use them they are great and keep traffic flowing. I always find it funny when people say they freak out trying to use them. Classic from Victoria, Easy done!

 

[johnakay]

its all settled now paid the guy . he showed me around car etc beautiful .top of the ranged model and an auto but no gear stick ,its all on the wheell.
as for roundabout ya cant get any worse than this one!! in swindon UK

 

[Gibsito]

its all settled now paid the guy . he showed me around car etc beautiful .top of the ranged model and an auto but no gear stick ,its all on the wheell.
as for roundabout ya cant get any worse than this one!!

That sends shivers down my spine just looking at it. I can't make any sense of it. I'm going to be in Australia in a few months and this is freaking me out. Not only do I have to drive on the opposite side of the road there but then have to navigate roundabouts going the wrong way (to me). Last time I attempted that was 1979 in Ireland. Not looking forward to that aspect of the trip one bit.

 

[L.B.S.]

its all settled now paid the guy . he showed me around car etc beautiful .top of the ranged model and an auto but no gear stick ,its all on the wheell.
as for roundabout ya cant get any worse than this one!!

Gah! I picture myself eyes tightly closed, hands rigidly clutching the bars, drool dripping from my mouth, as I ride straight into one of the houses, lol


Did the Jag driver say why he stopped in traffic? Offer up any bit of a "sorry mate, I shouldn't have done that as well" ?

I thought that's what the whole point of these things were, to have no stopping!

 

[bvogel7475]

Holy Cow! That roundabout is basically a poor man's intersection. I can see roundabouts being feasible for less traveled routes as a way of saving over a hundred thousand for a set of traffic lights. However, what you have there in the UK is ridiculous. Maybe they can take that extra money they don't have to pay to the EU anymore and make it a proper intersection with traffic lights... I'm not saying we have perfect roads here in the US but roundabouts are few and far between and mostly exist in older parts of town where they were used to save money.

 

[TN Thunder]

They have installed several around Knoxville, TN. I've been on them in Mexico, Europe, England and Australia. Can get tricky if you're not use to them.

 

[MZ5]

I'm glad to hear this was only a minor 'fender-bender.' From the title, I thought perhaps you'd ruined some clothing in an embarrassing way...

 

[Nofxguy]

That sends shivers down my spine just looking at it. I can't make any sense of it. I'm going to be in Australia in a few months and this is freaking me out. Not only do I have to drive on the opposite side of the road there but then have to navigate roundabouts going the wrong way (to me). Last time I attempted that was 1979 in Ireland. Not looking forward to that aspect of the trip one bit.

You'll be fine mate easiest way to remember is to keep the passenger in the gutter LOL. heres a few pretty pictures here that explain roundabouts pretty well
Roundabouts - Road rules - Safety & rules - Roads - Roads and Maritime Services
You are supposed to indicate when you are leaving the roundabout too, but on a moto laws also state you don't have to if its not practical/possible to switch quick enough and safely.
If you are planning on bringing your own helmet, make sure its certified for use here in Aus as the police may check it if they happen to pull you over
Helmets - Motorcyclists - Staying safe - NSW Centre for Road Safety

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

They ought to make that a training course for drivers/riders! If you master that contraption, you should have no problems on anything else.
The person that designed that should be flogged.

 

[Gibsito]

You'll be fine mate easiest way to remember is to keep the passenger in the gutter LOL. heres a few pretty pictures here that explain roundabouts pretty well
Roundabouts - Road rules - Safety & rules - Roads - Roads and Maritime Services
You are supposed to indicate when you are leaving the roundabout too, but on a moto laws also state you don't have to if its not practical/possible to switch quick enough and safely.
If you are planning on bringing your own helmet, make sure its certified for use here in Aus as the police may check it if they happen to pull you over
Helmets - Motorcyclists - Staying safe - NSW Centre for Road Safety

Thanks - I hope you're right. I won't be riding a moto there, just driving a rental car. Don't think I would want to try and get used to driving on the other side of the road with a motorcycle. Funny thing about that trip to Ireland in 1979 - about the only thing I remember about driving was how freaked out I was driving out of the airport, and how I did pretty well for the first ten miles or so until I had to make a U-turn. Promptly ended up on the wrong side of the road with another driver coming straight at me with his horn blaring. Spent the next ten days driving all over the south and barely remember the driving part at all. I guess I got used to it.

 

[Old Can Ride]

its all settled now paid the guy . he showed me around car etc beautiful .top of the ranged model and an auto but no gear stick ,its all on the wheell.
as for roundabout ya cant get any worse than this one!! in swindon UK

You gave me another great idea? I have never ever, in all my years of riding in Houston, ridden my motorcycle though the fountain in from of Rice University. Man, that is better than parking in a "NO PARKING" spot. Let you know what jail I end up in!

 

[JamesD]

Someone in a community North of Denver must like roundabouts. (apparently, we should be more like Europe)
If I remember right, there's a fast food restaurant and a gas station along a side road off of I-76.
I had to pass through two roundabouts just to get to the Wendy's(?), and it's off of a side road.
It's a total mess the way they built it. They should have just put stop signs on the side roads.
Clearly, this had so much traffic they just had to do this to keep traffic flowing. (not)
I would not want to be driving the trucks that have to make deliveries, they are way too small.
*edit*
I think this is it. I forgot there are actually 3 roundabouts.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9717012,-104.7567957,202m/data=!3m1!1e3