Traffic Lights at Elephant Circle

[urleft]

Was only a few years ago that a road to the circle was only 2 lane.  Admin posted some vids:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyQYV1eGBlA



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjgUolWik84

[Freddy]

Agree with Smooth2, Good sequencing will be the key and I think therein lies the problem. I suspect there will be lengthy delays both in driving through and waiting ( possibly indefinitely ) for the road authorities to get the sequencing right. Time will tell but I'm glad I don't have to travel through there to often.

[urleft]

Well the lights were operational today, as predicted no burn in period.  The lights operate in a counter-clockwise (opposite traffic flow) pattern and it takes just under 2 minutes from red until green again. 

Other than waiting, the flow was very smooth.   

[davureborn]

Putting traffic lights on a roundabout was an admission of defeat when I was a traffic engineer. This has to be one of the best organised and designed roundabouts in Thailand yet the fact that the road safety council or whatever it's called confines its activities to telling the police to do more checks, then there's no hope. Anybody seen any Thai road safety spots on TV recently? In three years I only found one, I'd like to be able to show one to my granddaughter. Plenty of stuff about bad roads most days. I believe there is a stop line before entering into the roundabout indicating that people on the thing have right of way?
I find that Thais do very well considering that most of them didn't grow up being driven around by their parents and grandparents f*ing and blinding there way through traffic. Buffalo cart mentality.
I have always found that most Thais drive very hesitantly on roundabouts, they don't know what they are supposed to do. Whose fault is that? Thais with 3rd class insurance will tend to give way quicker than most, so despite them having battered old trucks they won't insist on having right of way .....

[nookiebear]

It just might work if the Thais understood what a red light means.I was a fair distance away from them when they changed to red,the 3 cars & one lorry all carried on as though they weren't there!

[urleft]

BTW, right U-Turns are now legal at the lights. 

[Freddy]

I've been through them a couple of times now and they seem to work Ok. Not the delays I expected. Now, if only the Thais knew how to utilise the roundabout lanes and not either take the outside even if going full circle or taking the middle and cutting out at the last moment, we will be getting so where.

[toffo]

Exactly Freddy.. My lights went to Green and I was no more than 10 cars back but they still managed to fu@k it up before I got through.. They turned to Red so I turned left and did a U Turn and did it that way

[urleft]

I was waiting for the light at the Elephant Circle today,  the cars entering in your front view are the you cue that you are next.  So watched them, however, rather than my light turning green it turned flashing red, first I have seen that.  Everyone proceeded anyway.