Mumsnet Talk

"I don't find sheffield city centre a problem, it's straightforward"

It isn't to me or to a lot of my work mates who don't live in Sheffield. The one way system makes no sense and the roads aren't built on a grid system like Leeds. I tend to do park and ride and use the tram if I want to go into Sheffield.

A bit of local road where you have to sit in a filter lane if you want to turn right across busy carriageway.

I just feel like a sitting duck and that at any minute something is going to hit me.

I take the DCs an extra 5 miles to avoid when I take them swimming to avoid it.

I don't live in Sheffield either. I am only saying how I find it. It wasn't meant as a criticism of people who find it tricky.

The back road between Canterbury and Ashford. Especially in the dark.

There's a huge roundabout where I live which has five dual carriage ways coming to it, and one country lane. If I go that way I will go the slightly longer way to avoid coming out of the lane, just because it's such a nightmare to get out. There's never a gap in the traffic, five or six cars can take half an hour to get out, and they aren't hesitant or scared, it's just that there's no opportunity!

Other than that, not really.

Never been in a city centre or a motorway

Wax Of course you can do something about the potholes You ring up / email the council detailing where the pothole is and they come and fill it in. Without the public alerting them they won't know - they don't drive round every road checking you know.

I emailed about two giant pothoes yesterday and today they had white lines sprayed round them so i know they'll be filled in very soon.

Magic roundabout in Hemel Hempstead.

The Reading junction of the M4 (the one near the big wind turbine). The approach to the Oracle centre in Reading.

The old Johnson and Johnson roundabout nr Portsmouth, now many lanes of traffic light confusion, although if I tried it a bit more often I'd get used to it I suppose.

Not keen on lengthy stretches of single track lanes either, I don't like having to keep reversing back to passing spaces.

The Hanger Lane gyratory holds no fear for me though.

Any bastard roundabout that's been fiddled with.

Roundabout & traffic lights are not a bloody roundabout.

Roundabouts with traffic lights & a dual carriageway through the middle are not a bloody roundabout.

Both are just bastardised junctions.

Triple roundabouts are the work of the devil.

no I won't try the magic roundabout in Swindon, I'm avoiding Swindon & Milton Keynes

The Leeds one way system. Don't avoid it but hate it.

Jesmond to city centre junction of central motorway in Newcastle.

Wrong, just wrong.

Chiswick High Road is pretty nasty.

I like Leicester to drive in, it makes sense to me.

But Leeds is a like another dimension, I just go around and around until I achieve exit velocity. I can't really avoid it though.

Most of Belgium unless I can possibly avoid it.

porto do you hae trouble avoiding Belgium?

It kind of sneaks up on you doesn't it?

my mum once got a big speeding fine there. It wasn't big to start with. It got bigger when she insulted the policeman by saying she didn't realise she was in Belgium!

I work in Leeds (don't live there). A few years ago I had to meet my boss somewhere on the "other" side of the city first thing on a Monday morning. I was v worried about getting there, so DH and I spend Sunday afternoon driving around Leeds and working out how to get around, and how the Inner Loop, City Loop and Outer Loop all fit together. I got there, but 10 years later am still a bit hazy on the A58.

I'm having to come to terms with my fear of the Elephant and Castle in London. I am so scared of it, that I haven;t even managed to quite work out what I'm doing when I'm driving on it.

At the moment, I'm practising it with my husband, and it's not going well. I don't (quite) shut my eyes, but I find I've been so scared negotiating it that I can't remember what I did when I park the car.

Anyone any ideas about how to improve things? I have studied maps of it, fairly prodigiously.

btw, sparklingbrook, I took ADs partly to calm my fear of driving, so I think that must be a known side-effect. Jolly useful one.

Potholes here too! Fookin millions of them here in B'ham.

Paris without a sat nav, never again!

Too right gathering. I will drive anywhere now, it's great.

Junction of M62/M60 round Worsley. Death Alley. Don't avoid it but feel like closing my eyes tight until I'm through it.

A14 round Cambridge. I bloody loathe it. Nose to rail crawling traffic and fucking Audi drivers trying to drive over everyone.

*nose to tail

Streatham high street prepares for a driving nightmare tonight

Southampton city centre, coming out of Derby on to the A52, really weird bit where all the cars seem to square dance with each other. Can't get my head round Milton Keynes either.

I don't like single track roads with passing places after an incident with a tractor. Even though it was ages ago . Am OK with most other roads although not keen on parking.