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I have been there once. It was the scariest roundabout I have traversed. The contra rotating flow (inside goes one way, outside goes the other) makes it extra e

I have been there once. It was the scariest roundabout I have traversed. The contra rotating flow (inside goes one way, outside goes the other) makes it extra exciting.

meaty 14y ago
Myself too. Hangar Lane is far scarier as the driving mentality is central London style and there are 7 lanes.
- alexkus 14y ago
  Hanger Lane is scary as most drivers haven't realised that it's not really a (proper) roundabout any more. On a normal roundabout if you stay in a lane (one of the inside ones at least) you'll just keep going round and round. With the redesigned Hanger Lane you get in the lane marked for your exit and the outer lanes slowly peel off as feeders for the appropriate turnings. If you want to keep going round and round you'll need to keep moving over to the right (since we go round them clockwise) every so often to keep from being directed off eventually from your current lane. [EDIT] It's a "Spiral Roundabout".
  - ComputerGuru 14y ago
    I don't know about the UK, but in the other countries I've been to, the default roundabout is as you described. The "spokes" of the roundabout (the exits) are narrower than the roundabout, and only the outermost circle of the roundabout traffic can "peel off" into the exit. To keep from leaving at this turn, you need to go in towards the center, then make your way back out at the turn you wish to take.
  - smikhanov 14y ago
    Isn't every big roundabout the same? I drive via Old Street roundabout in London almost every day and it certainly is spiraling. When I took my driving lessons a year ago, my instructor was saying this configuration is pretty normal.
    - thisone 14y ago
      not really, being from the US and now living in the UK, the "traffic circles" I've gone round in the US were really just circular roads with one lane of traffic and easy to get stuck on if it's busy and you stray too far to the center. Quite different from UK roundabouts. Not saying all US traffic circles are like that of course.
  - meaty 14y ago
    That's how you're supposed to do it. Here's how it ends up on a Saturday afternoon: You queue for 30 minutes on the A406 with 9000 people who have left Wembley Ikea bashing your head on the steering wheel, then sling your car onto Hangar Lane like a trebuchet the moment the opposing traffic lights have gone red (not yours have gone green), slide across three to five lanes randomly, swerve to avoid the Polish truck driver who can't see you because his vehicle is LHD, avoid the police car parked on the inside to protect the previously crashed vehicle, shout "fuck you" out of the window a few times at other drivers, the traffic lights which have screwed you repetitively and any pedestrian zombies trying to short cut it across the junction and possibly several people trying to clean your windows, middle finger the BMW on your left which wasn't there two seconds ago, then desperately try to force everyone out of your way honking wildly as the 2 lanes onto the A40 narrow to one... Followed by speed up/slow down for a bit because of the Gatsos then a celebratory victory McDonalds (and to shut the kids up) at the A312 junction a few miles down the road (or American Diner on the A40 if you want to spend the entire evening on the toilet).
- deltasquared 14y ago
  I hear you. Although that roundabout is scary, some of the entry ramps to the A-14 are worse. It feels like you have 3 meters to merge with two lanes full of inexpertly driven lorries.
  - meaty 14y ago
    Ha I know the ones. The worst one is coming out of the Fenstanton junction towards Cambridge. Did that in thick fog and the dark a couple of days ago.
    - deltasquared 14y ago
      I know the place! Give me that roundabout any day. At least that way everyone is scared into being careful.
      - meaty 14y ago
        Only the clever people are scared into being careful :)

I have been there once. It was the scariest roundabout I have traversed. The contra rotating flow (inside goes one way, outside goes the other) makes it extra exciting.

meaty 14y ago

Myself too. Hangar Lane is far scarier as the driving mentality is central London style and there are 7 lanes.

alexkus 14y ago
Hanger Lane is scary as most drivers haven't realised that it's not really a (proper) roundabout any more. On a normal roundabout if you stay in a lane (one of the inside ones at least) you'll just keep going round and round. With the redesigned Hanger Lane you get in the lane marked for your exit and the outer lanes slowly peel off as feeders for the appropriate turnings. If you want to keep going round and round you'll need to keep moving over to the right (since we go round them clockwise) every so often to keep from being directed off eventually from your current lane. [EDIT] It's a "Spiral Roundabout".
- ComputerGuru 14y ago
  I don't know about the UK, but in the other countries I've been to, the default roundabout is as you described. The "spokes" of the roundabout (the exits) are narrower than the roundabout, and only the outermost circle of the roundabout traffic can "peel off" into the exit. To keep from leaving at this turn, you need to go in towards the center, then make your way back out at the turn you wish to take.
- smikhanov 14y ago
  Isn't every big roundabout the same? I drive via Old Street roundabout in London almost every day and it certainly is spiraling. When I took my driving lessons a year ago, my instructor was saying this configuration is pretty normal.
  - thisone 14y ago
    not really, being from the US and now living in the UK, the "traffic circles" I've gone round in the US were really just circular roads with one lane of traffic and easy to get stuck on if it's busy and you stray too far to the center. Quite different from UK roundabouts. Not saying all US traffic circles are like that of course.
- meaty 14y ago
  That's how you're supposed to do it. Here's how it ends up on a Saturday afternoon: You queue for 30 minutes on the A406 with 9000 people who have left Wembley Ikea bashing your head on the steering wheel, then sling your car onto Hangar Lane like a trebuchet the moment the opposing traffic lights have gone red (not yours have gone green), slide across three to five lanes randomly, swerve to avoid the Polish truck driver who can't see you because his vehicle is LHD, avoid the police car parked on the inside to protect the previously crashed vehicle, shout "fuck you" out of the window a few times at other drivers, the traffic lights which have screwed you repetitively and any pedestrian zombies trying to short cut it across the junction and possibly several people trying to clean your windows, middle finger the BMW on your left which wasn't there two seconds ago, then desperately try to force everyone out of your way honking wildly as the 2 lanes onto the A40 narrow to one... Followed by speed up/slow down for a bit because of the Gatsos then a celebratory victory McDonalds (and to shut the kids up) at the A312 junction a few miles down the road (or American Diner on the A40 if you want to spend the entire evening on the toilet).
deltasquared 14y ago
I hear you. Although that roundabout is scary, some of the entry ramps to the A-14 are worse. It feels like you have 3 meters to merge with two lanes full of inexpertly driven lorries.
- meaty 14y ago
  Ha I know the ones. The worst one is coming out of the Fenstanton junction towards Cambridge. Did that in thick fog and the dark a couple of days ago.
  - deltasquared 14y ago
    I know the place! Give me that roundabout any day. At least that way everyone is scared into being careful.
    - meaty 14y ago
      Only the clever people are scared into being careful :)