"It has been dubbed Britain's 'most woke' roundabout because drivers must give priority to pedestrians, then cyclists, and then other cars and lorries before continuing on themselves. Locals have pointed out the priority for cyclists and pedestrians is unnecessary as only cars and lorries regularly use the Boundary Way route."
If bike and pedestrian traffic is infrequent you'll rarely have to give priority, problem solved right?
But then, how will they keep their bumper hunter streak?
/s
Here in Malaysia I always thought it was our third world mentality that caused drivers to speed up when approaching a pedestrian crossing, when in reality it was a leftover notion from our times as a former British colony.
A lot of so called 'third world mentality' is just Victorian cultural norms that were imposed by the global techno fascists of the time (the British Empire).
Can confirm (Source: Played Victoria 3)
Facile and lazy. In reality, the norms and practices in "third world" countries are pretty comparable no matter who, if anyone, colonized them. It's just a question of development. Not everything in the world is the responsibility of big bad white man.
Locals have pointed out the priority for cyclists and pedestrians is unnecessary as only cars and lorries regularly use the Boundary Way route.
So, there is so little pedestrian and cyclist travel, that priority is unnecessary? What's the issue having the priority then? Surely, it wont affect you, then?
Ah but that means they will have to think about driving instead of going on autopilot
... priority for cyclists and pedestrians is unnecessary as only cars and lorries regularly use the Boundary Way route.
forgive me if I'm being a little too above-roomtemp-IQ for this, but what's the problem then?
The new infrastructure might make the route safer and more pedestrain or cyclists may start using the route, which could delay drivers by entire seconds. A clear and deliberate attack on the drivers freedom of mobility and rights to exclussively have all infrastructure catered to them.
"it might give me a slight inconvenience so it is evil"
drivers must give priority to pedestrians, then cyclists, and then other cars and lorries before continuing on themselves.
So, like every crossing everywhere? Because we don't want to harm others in traffic? If that's 'woke' then 'woke' is the only way.
'woke' is the only way.
Yes, but universally, by the very definition of the word.
This really shows how shit the DVLA have been at communicating the changes to the highway code that happened in 2022.
You're supposed to give way to pedestrians who want to cross at every roundabout in the UK as it's a it's a junction (you're supposed to at all junctions)
Yeah, really you should be able to cross without worrying, but you can't. I mean hell, I don't even like using zebra crossing without waiting for them to stop.
I don’t get it. It’s just a regular roundabout with zebra crossings.
Regular roundabouts don't give pedestrian or cyclist crossings priority.
* I'm talking of the UK, that's what the article is about. People seem confused.
In Canada pedestrians always have the right of way
Cyclists are seen as vehicles though
They do in my country, and i can only recommend it to the rest of the world tbh.
Drivers in Britain should give way to pedestrians at all junctions, including entrances and exits to all roundabouts. It's literally in the highway code.
Admittedly it's only a "should" rather than a "must" for most roundabouts, but still. This is the what driving standards are these days, and it is a good thing. It's all about protecting the more vulnerable. Car drivers are more dangerous to others than pedestrians are, so car drivers have to take more care and should give priority to the more vulnerable pedestrians.
EDIT: But once again I've fallen victim to a classic blunder. The sort of people who would say a roundabout is woke would never care about a well-reasoned argument. And I'm just preaching to the choir in this community anyway!
EDIT: But once again I've fallen victim to a classic blunder. The sort of people who would say a roundabout is woke would never care about a well-reasoned argument. And I'm just preaching to the choir in this community anyway!
I'd question the existence of "the sort of people" in any meaningful quantity. As far as I can tell the only people dubbing it the 'most woke' roundabout are the authors of the article. Not a single person quoted uses the word woke. It's a classic rage bait headline to generate clicks.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/transport/britains-most-woke-2m-roundabout-31744635
Lads, is it woke to follow The Highway Code?
That is one of the wokest things out there: both some dude's Toyotta Corolla and the Clarence Thomas' Motor Coach have to share the road and follow the same rules. Everyone is the same before the Highway code. Sounds like communism, can't have that.
This is the law even in (much of) the carbrained United States. Pedestrians always have the right-of-way, even if they aren't in a signed or painted crosswalk.
Yes. Even in places where they could get a ticket for jaywalking, cars are supposed to yield and let them mosey/stagger/traipse etc.
This fact will not actually stop a moving vehicle, however. Neither will the painted lines of a crosswalk. So make use of your larger visual field and look out for distracted drivers, e.g. all of them.
Oh yeah, but what I'm saying is I don't get why this would be "woke" since it's the most basic of motor vehicle laws in even the least pedestrian-friendly places.
Oh anything that's not completely selfish for the people who already have all the privileges qualifies as "woke" to them.
I agree it's just basic common sense and humanity.
But then I felt compelled to point out you can't rely on it for safety, because pedestrian deaths are high and on the rise.
So in other words, a roundabout. At least in the Netherlands, it has nothing to do with this weird woke idea
Exactly. Looks like a regular Polish roundabout to me.
Hoping not getting crushed by SUVs while drivers are busy scrolling down their phone is so woke. /s
It can't be truly woke if the center is filled with concrete instead of flowers or shrubbery
Really common in Dutch cities. Not all of them have zebra lanes but the rules are really quite simple.
I agree it should not be so inclusive, so let's leave out the cars and lorries and call it a day.
Rage bait.
This roundabout: "If there's a person walking across the road, don't drive into them."
Drivers: "Blasphemy!!!"
Goes to North Pole.
Tries to go more North.
Is gimbal locked
They trialed these particular roundabouts a few years ago elsewhere after spending literal years building it in the middle of a junction. Nobody likes them, they require even more crossing and attention, as a pedestrian and you feel rushed to move.
My issue with this roundabout is that it's the worst of all worlds. It's unusual, and complex for cars. Given how bad the average driver is, I wouldn't want to be a cyclist or pedestrian dealing with this.
While it has its problems, Milton Keynes does non-car traffic quite well. It has "red ways" that cut under or over the main trunk roads. It's possible to reach most of the city without having to cross a major road.
While retrofitting this is harder, surely they could come up with something better, for that sort of money.
Oh and as for the woke comments. I've found describing it/replacing it with empathy/empathetic works well. It seems to really annoy the gammon crowd, while turning those on the fence away from it, hard.
I might be daft, but how exactly is this complex? Or rather, how is more complex than any other situation where you have to give way? These kind of roundabouts is all you have over here. Never seemed difficult to grasp imho.
More than one "lane" you could turn into or out to. People are idiots, so you gotta remember how ~~had~~ bad things could get.
I lived in a place with a basic circle put in to "smooth" traffic on a small-but-main avenue, and they had a town hall meeting, YouTube tutorial, and a hands-on workshop on how to navigate a regular circle. People still came to the thing, put a left signal on, and pulled straight into oncoming traffic because they wanted to go that way. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Ok ok, so you're saying that basically any roundabout is too difficult. Then it's a case of driver certification and not roundabouts. We really should stop seeing having a driver license as a right, rather than a privilege. Of course that will never happen.
There's a town near me that put in a couple of roundabouts. There's an old lady known to the entire area who will simply treat the roundabout like a standard 4 way stop that has a cone in the middle and just go whatever way she is going, so turn left to turn left, etc.
Just copy Dutch roundabout design, they work great for both car drivers as well as other road users. Not complicated at all when copied properly.
c/nottheonion
Don't let US values infect the UK like that
Thaddeus is scared of roundabouts.
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