Generally, Swiss drivers just don their "Cone of Indestructibility", and dive straight onto roundabouts, looking neither right nor left, and relying on you to not want to lose your no claims bonus.
Pure genius.
Jim
Actually, as has been previously mentioned, to complicate the Swiss roundabout story even further, there are roundabouts that you give way to the left, and roundabouts where you give way to the right, i.e., for people coming onto the roundabout (generally small, mini-roundabouts, found on the back roads). If on the approach to the roundabout, there is no blue sign, with a circle of white arrows on it, the roundabout is not a roundabout, it is a give way to the right.
That is not a roundabout then.
it is just a plain righ-priority crossing.
There are some here in Zürich, in Wiedikon precisely, Zipresestrasse and around the area.
But they are indeed inside 30KPH zones and I have seen them at 20KPH zones in Geneva.
They are just "ornamented" crossings and not roundabouts
to be a roundabout you have to have the sign ( notice the direction of the arrows, it is oppossed as in the UK )
and there are allways the yield signs, ( also painted on the road at the entries )
Fine, then don't put a roundabout there! Paint a pink elephant in the road if you like...
Attached is the pinnacle of Swiss cleverness. It's Fribourgs double roundabout.
I mean, if now swiss drivers can't drive in one roundabout, who was the genious who though about adding another one .
Few of my friends have almost crashed in this one at least once.
First time I've seen something like that
But anyhow, if your friend "almost crashed" then they should go to driving school again...
it is so excessively signalised that you can't miss it where you have to yield and where you can go....
Anyhow it is an stupid idea, they could have done only one big elliptical roundabout instead of having to yield in the middle of it.
Just when you think you are clear of the madness they have planted a bonus pedestrian crossing on that westerly exit. I wonder how many cars are rear-ended at that very spot..?
Did we not all agree that the Swiss have troubles about how to use roundabouts?
I don't want to step on anybody's toes, but I've been following this thread for some while now and - to be perfectly honest - I really don't see any reason for all the excitement. I drive through the middle of Zurich twice a day, every day, during rush hours, Bürkliplatz-Bellevue-Hegibachplatz for those who know the area. Obviously, there are drivers who (1) don't know the area or (2) are unsure of their (and others') driving skills and as an experienced driver you notice those obviously, but to condem a whole country just because of a few ***holes is a bit exreme IMO. It's a matter of keeping your eyes open and concentrating on driving, i.e. your own and those around you, not on telephoning, not on eating a drippy hamburger, not on reading the newspaper, not on programming the Satnav, just on plain ol' driving to get from A to B.
The english seem ever more clever. They have 5
And another....
Haha, I love it.
So does anyone know why you would plan a crossing in this way? What is the advantage of having more than one roundabout in one crossing?
Roundabouts are mearly an inconvenience to the Swiss.
I tend to find that 1 in 3 Swiss drivers are on the phone.
1 in 3 Swiss drivers are lost.
The last third are on the phone lost!
Come on... in such dire times one needs to have some hobby (since the workload obviously is not the same it used to be). Even if it is only to point out other peoples alledged shortcomings
In Hemel, Hempstead they have the world record...
6 roundabouts in one
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...h&z=15&iwloc=A
Indeed the english are the ones who really know about roundabouts
And maybe they are lost and on the phone because it's a pretty technically under-developed country. Wouldn't surprise me if the GPS is the new thing here, and that headsets are considered star trek technology
Sorry - but which planet do you live on
Yes Fesken 1, see you joined last month, been here long have you ?
I don't think the Swiss are more impatient drivers than other nationalites, especially not in comparison to the Spanish (do they have any rules of the road in Spain?), Italian or French!
Admittedly they have yet to get the hang of roundabouts - but at least I haven't seen anyone going round in the wrong direction for quite some time now.
The Swiss have made enormous progress when it comes to stopping at zebra crossings, years ago they would almost skim the backs of pedestrians legs when they were walking across the road.
Salsa Lover, You are right about the one in Hemel. It has been there for at least 30 years. I used to use it every day and locally, it is known as the Magic Roundabout, after the somewhat trippy childrens TV show of the same name.