I've just noticed something, one of those changes that's so gradual that you don't notice it.
A few years ago, every self-respecting slip road or fast roundabout had yellow lines across the road on the approach to the junction. The idea was that they gave you a better perception of your true speed. In many cases the lines were painted closer together closer to the junction to give the impression that you weren't braking enough.
The thing is, they seem to be disappearing. I'm sure it's not just my perception. Anyone know why?
V
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I don't know, but they always scare me particulary on a motorbike when it is wet..........
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They annoy me. I always thought they were a half baked idea of some budding new graduate who had only got halfway through the course and has now learned how the brain works.
They just mess up speed estimation that carries on after making an over-speed allowance for them. They are not a nice surface to brake on when approaching a roundabout. They just make driving more difficult.
Just like bump strips, on your side of the road, when you leave a reduced speed zone. Why, when you have observed the limit? Especially when some cars traverse them better when the speed is a bit higher.
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Horrible things.
With the car decelerating smoothly for the line, passengers comfy, and everything calm and safe, the last thing I want is a deliberate attempt to remove half the grip I was expecting, unsettle the suspension, and ruin the ride thereby necessitating a visit to the dentist for my passengers.
Just as I am about to steer.
Safety measure? My foot. Dangerous waste of our money? Now that's more like it.
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IIRC correctly we go back to the sixties for these speed bars which, I understand, resulted from a suggestion by a schoolchild from Leeds. They were used extensively for the roundabouts on the A1 in our area - 5 between Scotch Corner and Dishforth and they were always getting clobbered. Adopted elsewhere. The idea was that as you approached the roundabout the bars were spaced closer together on approach and gave an impression of increasing speed, hence the the driver reduced speed and negotiated round the roundabout instead of going over it. Funny they seemed to work as a safety measure coupled with countdown markers and chevrons the size of houses.
Now all the roundabouts have been replaced by flyover junctions etc so no longer needed.
Funny don't recall motor cycles coming to grief before the roundabout.....or having any difficulty when on m/cycle patrol.
DVD
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Possibly road markings are now a different material, but in my motorcycling days (when Adam was a lad) a wet, white line could be lethal if you hit it at any sort of an angle. I'm still wary of them on my push bike -- surface-awareness never leaves a motorcyclist.
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Thats where I am coming from also. Never had an accident, it just really unnerved me same as white lines.
When taking lessons for my motorcycle test, traversing white lines when it was damp or wet I was always told to be really careful.
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Those on the A1 northbound approaching the A1/A614/A57 roundabout nearly shake your eyeballs out of their sockets. I hate them.
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Is that why they're on little stalks?
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I hate them too, but I can't say I've seen any reduction in them, well, not without telling fibs anyway.
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They dont bother me, but now you have drawn my attention to it, I cant remember the last time I saw them. Mind you most roundabouts near me are getting a section of special grippy surface on the approach to the give way line.
StarGazer
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I started this without saying that I dislike them, but dislike them I do, probably because I used to ride a bike. The reason I disliked them was because of their bumpiness and grip qualities. However, I do think they are very effective in slowing traffic; they have brought me off autopilot more than once.
I wonder if their decline is due to the increase in Shellgrip use (the grippy tarmac) and due to the faults mantioned above. I do think there's been a decrease in their use, though.
V
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