Corsa Reg Y47 SRS
Discussion
...you just cut me and another driver up in Gosforth. Each to their own, I've had worse and never react as it isn't worth the hassle, but perhaps you should look at the road markings before being so hasty and aggressive towards other drivers. I'm sitting at the following roundabout turning right in the middle lane and have my indicator on. You will see that the road markings permit this. You then pull along side me, in the right lane, also turning right. Again, the road marking allow this.
This is where the fun begins. We both pull out together when there is a break in the traffic and go round the roundabout together and enter the following road:
And a map of the road showing road markings:
I want to be on the left side and am slightly ahead of you by this point.
As I'm already on the left side of the road from using the permitted middle lane, I have my position to go straight ahead. This is where the fun begins as you decide to try and pass me in your Corsa Club to get in front. Why not just drop in behind? Anyway, this fails as there is a car in front of me so at this point you decide to pass him as well and then cut him up giving quite a few hand signals (or were you adjusting your mirror?). The poor driver between us thought you were being aggressive towards him. These hand signals continued for a few hundred yards. Did I react? Nah, what's the point...I was just baffled by your aggressive behaviour.
I do apologise for catching you up further down the road but I had to get your number plate.
This is where the fun begins. We both pull out together when there is a break in the traffic and go round the roundabout together and enter the following road:
And a map of the road showing road markings:
I want to be on the left side and am slightly ahead of you by this point.
As I'm already on the left side of the road from using the permitted middle lane, I have my position to go straight ahead. This is where the fun begins as you decide to try and pass me in your Corsa Club to get in front. Why not just drop in behind? Anyway, this fails as there is a car in front of me so at this point you decide to pass him as well and then cut him up giving quite a few hand signals (or were you adjusting your mirror?). The poor driver between us thought you were being aggressive towards him. These hand signals continued for a few hundred yards. Did I react? Nah, what's the point...I was just baffled by your aggressive behaviour.
I do apologise for catching you up further down the road but I had to get your number plate.
The Blue House roundabout is the setting to this sort of drama all day long. Mainly because, as you say, many drivers ignore the road marking or the presence of other vehicles on the road. The most dangerous approach seems to be coming from the West End or going South from Gosforth High Street. Drivers coming from the West End tend to fly onto the roundabout without looking. Drivers from Gosforth High Street often ignore the fact they can't see what's coming because of the Blue House, so just plough on regardless.
And why did they restrict the Northbound lane off the roundabout to Gosforth High Street to one lane by virtue of road markings? What a stupid idea. As if traffic didn't have enough issues getting clear of the roundabout.
And why did they restrict the Northbound lane off the roundabout to Gosforth High Street to one lane by virtue of road markings? What a stupid idea. As if traffic didn't have enough issues getting clear of the roundabout.
I completely agree.
I was more annoyed with myself earlier. Normally I see it coming and back off to give way...unfortunately he was in my blind spot so I didn't see him until it was too late. I've never been one for confrontation on the roads, life is too short.
Some of the restrictions they're introducing in and around Newcastle are baffling
I hate to admit it but I'm using the Metro more and more these days...
I was more annoyed with myself earlier. Normally I see it coming and back off to give way...unfortunately he was in my blind spot so I didn't see him until it was too late. I've never been one for confrontation on the roads, life is too short.
Some of the restrictions they're introducing in and around Newcastle are baffling
I hate to admit it but I'm using the Metro more and more these days...Approaching from Gosforth the usual is for someone in the middle lane to attempt to exit straight across but in the left lane, cutting up whoever is to their left. Or worse is when people get in the right lane to go straight across in order to take advantage of the 5 metres worth of filter lane on the other side and try to cause a massive accident.
That 5 metre filter zone on the southbound carriageway is ridiculous. The right hand lane at the roundabout should right right hand turn only, as people use it to try and zip up the offside of cars in the middle lane and then squeeze out on the tiny filter space. I don't regularly use that road anymore, but when I was driving it on every day (occasionally at rush hour) there would be near misses quite regularly.
City engineers have taken out perfectly functioning roundabouts all over the city and yet the roundabout with the biggest problems has only got worse over the years. Blue House should have lights added for morning and early evening busy periods or become a fully controlled crossroads instead.
There are so many drivers that approach this roundabout and then dither before making a poor decision, or like the corsa mentioned above drive really aggressively on it for the sake of gaining one space.
If I can avoid it, I do.
There are so many drivers that approach this roundabout and then dither before making a poor decision, or like the corsa mentioned above drive really aggressively on it for the sake of gaining one space.
If I can avoid it, I do.
A hateful piece of road that I avoid like the plague in rush hour. Wasn't at all surprised to see it was the subject of this thread. As for the driver, hard as it is, you just have to let these things go and accept that in all likelihood, one day they'll learn a valuable lesson the hard way.
There are other pretty awful junctions as well that are leaping out as being crap and yet are seemingly ignored. One that I have a particular gripe with at the moment is the no-right-turn onto the swing bridge when approaching from the west. The fact it is no right turn makes no odds to me personally but through either a lack of clear sign-age (one small sign about 20 yards before the junction) or ignorance it is very often ignored. At really busy times, due to the the road being a loop, it can literally cause a grid lock as cars wanting to (wrongly) turn right onto the swing bridge can cause the entire loop behind them to stop which means that the cars blocking their path onto the bridge are actually being held up by themselves. Nobody can move anywhere. Genius! It used to have a roundabout at the bottom of Dean Street that meant people could just do a U-turn and approach the bridge from the east. Can't see why that had to change.
There are other pretty awful junctions as well that are leaping out as being crap and yet are seemingly ignored. One that I have a particular gripe with at the moment is the no-right-turn onto the swing bridge when approaching from the west. The fact it is no right turn makes no odds to me personally but through either a lack of clear sign-age (one small sign about 20 yards before the junction) or ignorance it is very often ignored. At really busy times, due to the the road being a loop, it can literally cause a grid lock as cars wanting to (wrongly) turn right onto the swing bridge can cause the entire loop behind them to stop which means that the cars blocking their path onto the bridge are actually being held up by themselves. Nobody can move anywhere. Genius! It used to have a roundabout at the bottom of Dean Street that meant people could just do a U-turn and approach the bridge from the east. Can't see why that had to change.
Hoink said:
I'm sitting at the following roundabout turning right in the middle lane and have my indicator on. You will see that the road markings permit this.
Must admit, this caught me out and put me in the wrong the other day when heading northbound on the great north road and turning right here. It's unusual (to me, at least) to have both lanes turning right, especially into Jesmond Dene Road which is barely wide enough for 2 lanes of traffic in the same directions, and has bugger all paint left on it. The lane markings are easy to miss in heavy traffic too.I was in the right hand lane at the roundabout, and as I entered Jesmond Dene Road, drifted into the middle/left of the two lanes as I exited the roundabout. No aggro or horns as the car on my left rear quarter (who must've really floored it round the outside of the roundabout as I got away quicker than him/her) reacted in time and dropped back, but it could've easily been a bent rear wing for me. Was annoyed with myself as it was my mistake, but the lanes approaching Blue House (from pretty much all directions except the west) are so illogical that it makes you wonder who the hell in the planning dept thought "yep, that's a good idea. Job jobbed!"
Scrambled said:
City engineers have taken out perfectly functioning roundabouts all over the city and yet the roundabout with the biggest problems has only got worse over the years.
Removing the roundabout on Benton Road at the junction with Etherstone Avenue was a daft idea. It worked perfectly well, and being a roundabout, was self-regulated. Putting the extra traffic lights in and turning it to a cross road has slowed down the traffic there, meaning congestion tailing back to the Coast Road roundabout, up to the roundabout at Cragside and all the way back to Sainsburys. Not only that, but when they first changed it a lorry driver nearly wiped me out at 6AM, thinking he could cut across my lane of traffic to get to Sainsburys. I have no doubt that it is just change for the sake of change justify the inflated budget for next year (which isn't being spent on potholes).
Gad-Westy said:
There are other pretty awful junctions as well that are leaping out as being crap and yet are seemingly ignored. One that I have a particular gripe with at the moment is the no-right-turn onto the swing bridge when approaching from the west. The fact it is no right turn makes no odds to me personally but through either a lack of clear sign-age (one small sign about 20 yards before the junction) or ignorance it is very often ignored. At really busy times, due to the the road being a loop, it can literally cause a grid lock as cars wanting to (wrongly) turn right onto the swing bridge can cause the entire loop behind them to stop which means that the cars blocking their path onto the bridge are actually being held up by themselves. Nobody can move anywhere. Genius! It used to have a roundabout at the bottom of Dean Street that meant people could just do a U-turn and approach the bridge from the east. Can't see why that had to change.
That is another rubbish road, I agree, although I used to be one of the ones who turned right onto the bridge. In my defence though, if I could see that I was going to cause an obstruction, I would continue on, and go left onto Sandgate(?) and then swing a U-turn down there.These days though, although you probably aren't meant to do this, I drop my GF off a St Nicholas building, go down the cobbled street down by the Empress and go straight on down Sandgate, hooking a right at the bottom and go straight over the bridge. I cannot even begin to impress on you how much time this has saved me.
The thing is, while the city council imposes more and more stupid rules, and takes more road away from us all, we'll continue to see more and more gridlock. The problem isn't the traffic, it's the numpties managing it.
^ couldn't agree more.
The degree of gridlock in town is far higher than it used to be even 10 years ago. The stupid bus lanes and no car roads have made it awful.
But by far my biggest gripe is all of the roundabouts that have been replaced with traffic lights!
Also places where traffic light have been installed at junctions that don't need them.
Any one else think the number of people jumping lights has increased quite a lot? I think the sheer number of new lights has just pee'd so many people off they get impatient and push their luck
The degree of gridlock in town is far higher than it used to be even 10 years ago. The stupid bus lanes and no car roads have made it awful.
But by far my biggest gripe is all of the roundabouts that have been replaced with traffic lights!
Also places where traffic light have been installed at junctions that don't need them.
Any one else think the number of people jumping lights has increased quite a lot? I think the sheer number of new lights has just pee'd so many people off they get impatient and push their luck
bob-in-toon said:
^ couldn't agree more.
The degree of gridlock in town is far higher than it used to be even 10 years ago. The stupid bus lanes and no car roads have made it awful.
But by far my biggest gripe is all of the roundabouts that have been replaced with traffic lights!
Also places where traffic light have been installed at junctions that don't need them.
Any one else think the number of people jumping lights has increased quite a lot? I think the sheer number of new lights has just pee'd so many people off they get impatient and push their luck
I've noticed more and more people jumping lights, especially off-peak on weekends when I'm driving early in the morning. Mind, it always feel strange sitting at a deserted roundabout or junction with no other car anywhere in sight! The degree of gridlock in town is far higher than it used to be even 10 years ago. The stupid bus lanes and no car roads have made it awful.
But by far my biggest gripe is all of the roundabouts that have been replaced with traffic lights!
Also places where traffic light have been installed at junctions that don't need them.
Any one else think the number of people jumping lights has increased quite a lot? I think the sheer number of new lights has just pee'd so many people off they get impatient and push their luck
The thing that baffles me the most, however, is that they continue to add restrictions, traffic lights and bus lanes but at the same time claim they are wanting more cars in on an evening to shop with the offer of free parking after 5 (or is it 6?). Common sense would tell them to abolish the anti-car approach to encourage more visitors.
I remember when you could drive all the way down Percy Street past the Haymarket and onwards. Now anyone who has the misfortune of driving down that way finds they can't go straight on to Newgate Street, they can't turn left along Blackett Street so they are forced to go right along Gallowgate. I'm sure there is a no right turn sign onto Gallowgate too 
It's led to loads of drivers ending up there, realising they are going the wrong way and doing u-turns around the central reservation.
Good observation about people chancing lights late, or just driving through reds in the middle of the night. Taxi drivers, usually, when they think no-one can see them. I was driving along New Bridge street at about 2AM a while back and I had a taxi driver pull out right in front of me from the junction from Stoddart Street opposite the Tanner's Arms. He just looked at me dumbfounded, obviously thinking no-one else was around so he could away with ignoring the light.
It's led to loads of drivers ending up there, realising they are going the wrong way and doing u-turns around the central reservation.
Good observation about people chancing lights late, or just driving through reds in the middle of the night. Taxi drivers, usually, when they think no-one can see them. I was driving along New Bridge street at about 2AM a while back and I had a taxi driver pull out right in front of me from the junction from Stoddart Street opposite the Tanner's Arms. He just looked at me dumbfounded, obviously thinking no-one else was around so he could away with ignoring the light.
bob-in-toon said:
biggest gripe is all of the roundabouts that have been replaced with traffic lights!
... or worse still, roundabouts now with added traffic lights. The fly-overs over the A1 (A69 denton burn, Kingston Park etc) are bordering on dangerous when they leave you at a red-light mid-roundabout with backside inches away from cars flying past.This...
Moor Farm roundabout is right next to where I work so struggle to avoid it - in the morning its often busy so you get stuck at the traffic light line even though its on green...so when it changes to red you are at the front.
This means you can see the traffic lights controlling the traffic coming from your left, in this case A19 north bound...when it changes to amber I get ready to pull away in anticipation of my lights changing...the number of cars that just keep piling through the amber and red is unbelievable! Some fly through the red only to stop at the next set only yards further on meaning they gained next to nothing!
Makes you wonder what their judgement criteria is...Amber, oh that's not stop...Red, only just changed so that doesn't count...Its been red for a couple of seconds, best stop...Cretins!
Moor Farm roundabout is right next to where I work so struggle to avoid it - in the morning its often busy so you get stuck at the traffic light line even though its on green...so when it changes to red you are at the front.
This means you can see the traffic lights controlling the traffic coming from your left, in this case A19 north bound...when it changes to amber I get ready to pull away in anticipation of my lights changing...the number of cars that just keep piling through the amber and red is unbelievable! Some fly through the red only to stop at the next set only yards further on meaning they gained next to nothing!
Makes you wonder what their judgement criteria is...Amber, oh that's not stop...Red, only just changed so that doesn't count...Its been red for a couple of seconds, best stop...Cretins!
I used to live about half a mile from Moor Farm roundabout, it deserves a thread of its own...it's horrendous. Many people seem to pick a lane, ignore the road markings, and charge ahead.
I'm sure I read somewhere that, as it currently stands, the roundabout won't be able to cope with emergency vehicles coming from the hospital they're building next to it. If true, I fear your journey could get worse once they work their magic and re-design it.
I'm sure I read somewhere that, as it currently stands, the roundabout won't be able to cope with emergency vehicles coming from the hospital they're building next to it. If true, I fear your journey could get worse once they work their magic and re-design it.
Blue House was bad back in the 70's!
Lot less traffic then.
Lived in Cram for 25 years too, Moor Farm was the worst accident black spot in Nortthumberland in the 80's and still is.
Its the road markings now though, faded and invisible in the rain.
Don't live there now but a couple of times when back in the area, turning from the Spine road (from Ashington) to go along the A19 to Seaton Burn, I have got completely lost in the lane markings and lights!
Whats Scotwood Road like now at the west end where you try and get across to the A1 north?
Could queue for 30 minutes some days.
All part of the reason I moved to the Isle of Skye.
(Living in the sticks in Yorkshire now though)
Lot less traffic then.
Lived in Cram for 25 years too, Moor Farm was the worst accident black spot in Nortthumberland in the 80's and still is.
Its the road markings now though, faded and invisible in the rain.
Don't live there now but a couple of times when back in the area, turning from the Spine road (from Ashington) to go along the A19 to Seaton Burn, I have got completely lost in the lane markings and lights!
Whats Scotwood Road like now at the west end where you try and get across to the A1 north?
Could queue for 30 minutes some days.
All part of the reason I moved to the Isle of Skye.
(Living in the sticks in Yorkshire now though)
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