Why do "they" put pedestrain crossings a few metres after a roundabout?

Emlyn_Dewar

Emlyn_Dewar

Emlyn_Dewar

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Driving through Aberdeen this morning I managed to hit the roundabouts at the time when they were blocked by cars, the reason for the blockage was down to the classic pedestrian crossings at a roundabout. Apparantly everyone in Aberdeen is too stupid to read "keep clear" when it's painted on the road...

I assume Aberdeen isn't the only city to have this special feature?

Why is it considered a smart place to have a pedestrian crossing? Every time the lights go red on them, they seem to trash the flow of traffic from every side of the roundabout. Is there a specific reason or is it just a comedy laugh from the overlords who place the crossings

Edit: I only just realised that I've made a spelling error in the title, I apologise for this.
 
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It's because in a lot of cases the people who are in charge of making these layouts don't actually drive. They just see what it is the shortest route from one side of the road to the other, roundabout or no roundabout.
 
Because it makes sense to stop the traffic where it is already moving slowly or not at all? Rather than in the middle of a busy straight.

Because it's natural for people to try to cross there anyway?


Two of the more obvious possibilities.



M
 
I don't understand though, why do people need to cross right beside a roundabout?
The speed limit in Aberdeen is not high, they could just chuck the crossings a little further away? I don't have issues with pedestrian crossings, sometimes I like to be a pedestrian... I'd just think it would work better if the crossings were a bit further off the roundabout.
Either that, or educate people in the art of reading large text on tarmac roads. "KEEP CLEAR"
 
Meridian said:
Because it makes sense to stop the traffic where it is already moving slowly or not at all? Rather than in the middle of a busy straight.

Because it's natural for people to try to cross there anyway?


Two of the more obvious possibilities.



M
Click to expand...

What you haven't realised is that the majority of these 'crossings' immediately on or after roundabout exits lead to traffic backing up onto the roundabout. Also when you are exiting a roundabout the tendency is to accelerate; moving the crossings slightly further down these roads wouldn't hurt anyone.
 
I don't know why it would be natural for people to cross at roundabouts though.

Regarding the speed issue, seems that most people are unaware that roundabouts can be taken without "caning it"... As a result, it's probably just as or more dangeous to cross there.
 
Shimmy said:
What you haven't realised is that the majority of these 'crossings' immediately on or after roundabout exits lead to traffic backing up onto the roundabout. Also when you are exiting a roundabout the tendency is to accelerate; moving the crossings slightly further down these roads wouldn't hurt anyone.
Click to expand...

I think that this is the Whole Point, Moving it further down the road would just increase the frustration.
Road planners plan for people doing the speed Limit. not 10mph over the limit trying to get it sideways:p
 
Emlyn_Dewar said:
Driving through Aberdeen this morning I managed to hit the roundabouts at the time when they were blocked by cars, the reason for the blockage was down to the classic pedestrian crossings at a roundabout. Apparantly everyone in Aberdeen is too stupid to read "keep clear" when it's painted on the road...

I assume Aberdeen isn't the only city to have this special feature?

Why is it considered a smart place to have a pedestrian crossing? Every time the lights go red on them, they seem to trash the flow of traffic from every side of the roundabout. Is there a specific reason or is it just a comedy laugh from the overlords who place the crossings

Edit: I only just realised that I've made a spelling error in the title, I apologise for this.
Click to expand...

Sounds like my every day experience at the roundabout along King Street / St. Machar drive near the spar. :p
 
Nobody seems to want to say the cynical thing, which is that the traffic planners/city councillors/'they' WANT to disrupt traffic flow. In a bizarre reverse psychology way of thinking they believe that by frustrating people this will encourage them to get the bus....
 
There is that but the basic reason is because certain groups of pedestrians are lazy sods and if you don't put it right next to the roundabout they wont bother to walk 20 meters down the road to use the crossing, and if you put fences up they'll just climb over them or walk down the road on the outside of them.

Personally I'd like to see them bring back the really old fashioned design where the 4 crossings all go diagonally from the corner to the centre of the roundabout with the centre as a pedestrian refuge, then when a pedestrian does stop the flow of traffic it's not so bad because it's also an opportunity for the cars waiting to enter the roundabout from the exit just to the left of the pedestrians starting position to do so, if the crossing just goes straight across then there is just as many cars forced to stop but the cars that could enter from the left are prevented from doing so by zebra crossing rules.
 
theres a particular roundabout here which has a pedestrian crossing at every side, its an absolute nightmare on a friday afternoon, cant get moving because as soon as 1 goes green, another goes red, and the traffic stays locked.
 
I've often wondered why they do this.

Around here we have zebra crossings on every roundabout exit and it’s infuriating at times.

I'm suprised it’s not banned under health and safety as it has be one of the most distracting times for a driver.
 
there's one on my way to work with zebra crossings all the way round, can be a real pain if there's a lot of pedestrians about.
 
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