-
Just pulled up to a T- junction looking right, car pulls along side me, no inditcation on the passenger side so I assume she is going right. I assumed wrong, I then go to sprint away to find her turning across in front of me, she knew I was there but obviously thought it was ok. I said she was an idiot (silly pink folding roof fiat 500) after we both had got onto the main road so she slammed the brakes on meaning I nearly hit her twice, how stupid can someone be???
I have confirmed my own suspicions today that the majority of women cannot drive!
-
Bloody wimmins.
-
which is why hire cars in Berlin all have Munich number plates - so regular cyclists know to treat them, as they do other foreign-plated cars
Nice implication that cars registered in Munich are 'foreign-plated. Feeling quite Prussian yet?
Very interesting - clever Germans!
It's not completely true, though:
That's assuming that the other hire car companies also operate in Berlin.
-
Just back from a week cycling around Normandy, only to learn of the "priorite a droite" rule when I got back. This explained a variety of "oh shit" moments that happened, people pulling out without looking, stopping on roundabouts, etc. It strikes me as the most illogical road rule I've heard of.
I think it's a pretty good way of organising priority; for starters, you don't need carriageway markings (although Germany now paints give-way lines), and if everybody knows the rule, they expect to have to stop at every four-way junction where the main street isn't granted priority (which can also happen through the diamond-shaped 'square omelette' signs).
While most main streets in Germany have these signs (and side streets have the corresponding 'give way' signs, the red-bordered triangle), it is good that there isn't always a street which has been clearly assigned the priority. I don't know if the 'right before left' rule led to more crashes than the British system of always assigning priority. That would be interesting to find out.
-
A lot of the problem was that I'd never heard of the rule, so was riding oblivious to any difference to the highway code in Britain, other than anything obviously signed.
It may make it safer if everyone assumes they don't have priority, but surely stopping on a roundabout to let people out is more dangerous than letting those on the roundabout have automatic priority?
-
In Berlin I've only ever seen it on small single-carriageway roads, where it is probably a good thing, as it means everyone approaches junctions with a bit more caution.
On roundabouts and faster/busier/larger roads there's the expected system of painted lines common sense.
The French system sounds like chaos.
-
Bombing down from the highest point in Leeds earlier with a brand new (emergency mid ride replaced) hardshell on the back and still getting used to running restraps rather than atacs, went to skid to scrub some speed and the mad grip from the tyre almost threw me out of the straps and off the bike.
Recovered ok and tucked my feet further into the straps, had white bibs on but fortunately dark shorts over the top.....
-
It may make it safer if everyone assumes they don't have priority, but surely stopping on a roundabout to let people out is more dangerous than letting those on the roundabout have automatic priority?
The rule doesn't apply to roundabouts.
-
No, it predates the formal invention of roundabouts. It doesn't actually have any roundabout carriageway markings (i.e., give way lines to the circulatory carriageway), so you just need to take your cue from that. There are a number of locations like this in Paris, e.g. the Franklin D. Roosevelt junction further down the Champs-Élysées, or the Place de la Concorde. I suspect that there may be heritage reasons for the fact that they haven't been converted into formal roundabouts (or 'longabouts' in the case of the Concorde), despite having the shape and appearance.
-
Is L'Arc De Triomphe not actually a roundabout then?
No, it's a gyratory
chris_tim
lemonade
snottyotter
Wrongcog
dst2
Tenners
hoefla
ILb
Oliver Schick
CowHen
tbc
TM
Emyr
middleofnowhere
Przemekn
jadias-
Post a reply
About
"Oh Shit" moments...
Posted by
@Sparky
Clever in so far as they've adapted a semi-workable solution to a dangerous problem.
But stupid for having it in the first place.
The more I ride here, the more I think the most workable solution is shared space and increased awareness/decreased speed limits in cities. Segregation leads to a lack of recognition of cyclists as road users.
#canofworms