Driver stress

[Jocko]

We all experience driver stress at some time or another. The last two mornings I have had to drive into Edinburgh with the daily commute and that is stressful but the other night was the most stressful driving I have experienced in a long time.
We were going to hear Madge's grandson playing guitar at a school concert. It was in Musselburgh, to the east of Edinburgh, but really just a continuation of the city. Getting there was stressful, but we had left in plenty of time and the hour it took for the last mile, from the end of the city bypass to the theatre was just troublesome.
The real stress started when we left the theatre. My stepdaughter was visiting from Surrey and her mum said I would drop her at her Airbnb in Edinburgh city centre. Now to explain, I do not know the ins and outs of the city, I was in Musselburgh which could have been Timbuktu for all the difference it made. I didn't really know where I was and I had no idea where I was going.
Thankfully Laura was able to give me the full address so I was able to plug it into my Garmin and off we went. So there we are, it is dark, I have the night vision of a septuagenarian, I have no idea where I am and I am driving into a city with more roadworks than the entire UK motorway system. Oh, and did I say they wanted to stop for a fish supper.
Well, after the most stressful drive for a very long time, including finding a chippy, we got to within 100 yards of her Airbnb only to be stopped by a temporary No Entry. I drove around trying to circumvent it but the silly Garmin woman kept bringing me back to the same spot. Eventually, Laura said she would get out and walk, which I was happy to accommodate. I then set the Garmin for home and after visiting some of the narrowest cobbled streets in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh it eventually brought me out on to a road I recognised and the route for home.
By this time I had a splitting headache from trying to identify lane arrows in the road and when I eventually got home and got to bed it took about two hours for the brain to wind down and let me sleep. Mothers and their daughters. Huh.

[culzean]

I now what you mean, we went into Birmingham to the National Indoor Arena to see Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, but the night was severely marred by the sheer amount of road works in Brum... every road we tried to go down was closed at some point and we ended up doing more than a few U turns.  After the show we got out of the multi storey carpark OK, but once again every road the trusty Garmin tried to take us down was closed off, so we and most other cars got rerouted and actually got sent past the exit to carpark we had just left - but nose to tail traffic moving at the speed of an arthritic snail...  we eventually ( it was dark ) spotted a sign for somewhere we recognised and made our way back to M6 by a longer route than we came in by.. it has put me off driving into Birmingham any time soon, and don't mention the bus lanes with cameras on them... traps for the unwary.

[Kenneve]

Hi Jocko, Had a similar experience today, My wife, who has Alzheimer’s. lives in a care home to the north of a Birmingham and I needed to get her to Heartlands Hospital for 09.40 hrs which meant me leaving my home in Solihull around 08.00 hrs, just in the rush hour. I’m 83 in a couple of weeks time and It normally takes around 25 min to get to the home. Today it took just over an hour, which didn’t leave much time to get to the hospital for the appointment. We eventually made it about 5 min late, which rather got to me as I’m never late for anything!!
She had a fall a week ago and broke her wrist, had a new cast fitted today and all is well, for the moment 

[Johncb500]

Driving in strange cities is always stressful.

With unfamiliar layout. Cameras for bus lanes. Speed cameras and hidden limit signs.
Last week I visited Wolverhampton. Seems to have cameras everywhere.


As for direction signs.
They always seem to be designed by a local. That already knows the way.

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[John Ratsey]

I'm not keen on driving at night (even with the help of some LED bulbs) and reluctant to consider driving on unfamiliar roads on the dark and would draw the line at unfamiliar roads in a busy urban area. Even with the help of a sat-nav it can be too bewildering as one often needs other visual cues to help understand the instructions.

[Jocko]

as one often needs other visual cues to help understand the instructions.

One of the Garmin instructions was "Turn left at the church". Might have been okay if it had been St Paul's or York Minster but a Presbyterian church in the dark?

[peteo48]

I think we all feel your pain Jocko. I have to say the night driving thing is definitely an issue with me. I am lucky in that I am not required to do much night driving outside of my own patch as it were but I don't enjoy it when I do.

[Jocko]

I am lucky in that I am not required to do much night driving outside of my own patch as it were but I don't enjoy it when I do.

For the most part, that is me as well. I don't like driving in cities if I can avoid it. It is fine when you know what lane to be in but so many lane markings are only displayed at the last minute. The big problem of driving in a strange city, made worse by darkness, is knowing what set of lights is a crossing and what is a junction. In this age of LED traffic lights, it would be a help if crossings had a flashing green and traffic lights the current steady light.

[peteo48]

Just picking up on the lane markings thing. Where it can go really wrong is on big roundabouts with several exits and the markings have worn out!

[culzean]

Just picking up on the lane markings thing. Where it can go really wrong is on big roundabouts with several exits and the markings have worn out!

Bad idea to have road directions painted on the road,  in heavy traffic when you need them the most they are not visible, but of course a lot cheaper than overhead gantries with decent lighting at night. Also sometimes you may not be sure of road number you need, but know which town or area you want to get to, so something like 'B4017 east' may not be helpful, especially if there are a few 'B' roads off the island.

[Jocko]

I use this roundabout a couple of days a week, but always West to North East then NE to W. On the odd occasion I have to enter by one of the other roads I can never remember what lane to get to get in.

And as culzean says, in traffic, you cannot see the lane directions. At least I know the road numbers!

[JimSh]

Maybe you'll have to relearn it again.
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/sheriffhall-roundabout-flyover-plans-edinburgh-17370072

But then again maybes no'
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/traffic-and-travel/greens-want-halt-edinburghs-spaghetti-junction-flyover-sheriffhall-roundabout-1363910

God  knows what's going to happen while they redo it.

Looks like you should be able to drive straight through when it's done.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/traffic-and-travel/revealed-sheriffhall-bypass-flyover-plan-revealed-822976
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sheriffhall+roundabout&view=detail&mid=E17C90687A62EDE87608E17C90687A62EDE87608&FORM=VIRE

Last edit added last link

[JimSh]

Are these effective?
https://www.clearview-intelligence.com/case-studies/a720-sheriffhall-roundabout-irs2-intelligent-road-stud-scheme

[Jocko]

Looks like you should be able to drive straight through when it's done.

They should have done that when they built the bypass. After all, all the other junctions are off the bypass.
I would imaging this would be the easiest to put in

But I preferred the rejected Option C


The Smart Cat's Eyes are brilliant but you still have to know what lane to get in. They just light up when you get the green and certainly help to keep vehicles from wandering into another lane. They have also installed them at the end of the Bypass where it joins the A1.

[JimSh]

They should have done that when they built the bypass. After all, all the other junctions are off the bypass.
I would imaging this would be the easiest to put in

I think this came up in a previous thread.
There were mine workings and they went for the cheaper option.
I suppose they didn't anticipate the increase in the amount of traffic when they built it.
See the engineering assessment here.(scroll down)
https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/6249/a720-sheriffhall_emerging-options-exhbition-dec216.pdf