Norton Retail Park - St James

[bassett one]

but its normally illegal to do u turns on dual carrageways ,bet they put up a sign soon

[WiseOwl182]

5 hours ago, bassett one said:

but its normally illegal to do u turns on dual carrageways ,bet they put up a sign soon

No sign at the moment, and can't see why it's unsafe for the reason I gave above. It does help tackle climate change though.

[WarPig]

1 hour ago, WiseOwl182 said:

No sign at the moment, and can't see why it's unsafe for the reason I gave above. It does help tackle climate change though.

So it might, but it doesn't help a pedestrian crossing the road at that point (instead of using the crossing) who isn't expecting cars to perform that manoeuvre.

[WiseOwl182]

12 minutes ago, WarPig said:

So it might, but it doesn't help a pedestrian crossing the road at that point (instead of using the crossing) who isn't expecting cars to perform that manoeuvre.

It wouldn't affect a pedestrian, afaik the crossing is not in the path of the u-turn being discussed here.

[bassett one]

but if they were crossing the dual carrageway and racing to beat the traffic coming out of the retail park,it could be a fatal incident

 

[WiseOwl182]

1 hour ago, bassett one said:

but if they were crossing the dual carrageway and racing to beat the traffic coming out of the retail park,it could be a fatal incident

 

So if a pedestrian was crossing a busy dual carriageway at a point that isn't a designated crossing, there could be a fatal incident? Well yes, but that's true anywhere, and it's unlikely to be as a result of a U turn that is slow speed by necessity.

[WarPig]

On 05/05/2019 at 13:27, WiseOwl182 said:

and it's unlikely to be as a result of a U turn that is slow speed by necessity.

No its not, I watch them do the U turn at high speed as they are probably not sure if traffic will be flowing from the other traffic lights, or they do it at speed whilst theres a gap.

A pedestrian crossing at that location wouldn't necessarily be expecting cars to do a U turn

On 04/05/2019 at 23:30, WiseOwl182 said:

It wouldn't affect a pedestrian, afaik the crossing is not in the path of the u-turn being discussed here.

it would affect the pedestrian as they are crossing where the cars are doing their U turns, and not using the crossing at all.

[WiseOwl182]

19 hours ago, WarPig said:

No its not, I watch them do the U turn at high speed as they are probably not sure if traffic will be flowing from the other traffic lights, or they do it at speed whilst theres a gap.

A pedestrian crossing at that location wouldn't necessarily be expecting cars to do a U turn

it would affect the pedestrian as they are crossing where the cars are doing their U turns, and not using the crossing at all.

Both problems solved by the pedestrians using the designated crossing.

[WarPig]

On 10/05/2019 at 18:22, WiseOwl182 said:

Both problems solved by the pedestrians using the designated crossing.

No, they aren't solved. Using the pedestrian crossing isn't compulsory, and anyone walking out of the main entrance/exit and wanting to immediately cross and turn right wouldn't really want to have to turn left instead, and walk to the crossing.

 

It's quite acceptable to assume that its safe to cross when the traffic from their right comes to s stop at the red light, whilst traffic from their left then proceeds through their green light to turn right into the shopping centre. Thats when the danger rears its head - a pedestrian crossing the road whilst a car from their left does a U turn.

 

Lots of school kids walking home from school in the afternoon use the shopping centre, quite easy for one of them to believe its safe to cross at that point.

[WiseOwl182]

38 minutes ago, WarPig said:

No, they aren't solved. Using the pedestrian crossing isn't compulsory, and anyone walking out of the main entrance/exit and wanting to immediately cross and turn right wouldn't really want to have to turn left instead, and walk to the crossing.

 

It's quite acceptable to assume that its safe to cross when the traffic from their right comes to s stop at the red light, whilst traffic from their left then proceeds through their green light to turn right into the shopping centre. Thats when the danger rears its head - a pedestrian crossing the road whilst a car from their left does a U turn.

 

Lots of school kids walking home from school in the afternoon use the shopping centre, quite easy for one of them to believe its safe to cross at that point.

But what you're saying is that pedestrians should be able to cross a busy dual carriageway freely without fear. It's just not reality.

 

Anyway, as I've said before, a sharp U turn is difficult to achieve at high speed unless you're an expert at handbrake turns, so it's very unlikely somebody performing a U turn would do so at such speed they'd not be able to stop for a pedestrian playing Lemmings. There is no sign there, so I can only assume it's ok to do the U turn.

 

I've not tried it myself but the environmental benefits of saving a mile in pointless petrol driving up to the roundabout and back down again are phenomenal. Surely you'd endorse such environmentally conscious driving?