Traffic rules at cross roads

[007]

....honestly had not heard of this rule until yesterday

The rule of right of way does not apply to someone coming out of a parking lot. This right of way can create a funny situation also. I still remember my driving instructor telling us about a situation where at a crossroad without any traffic signs, 4 cars in each corner trying to cross the road... question was who gets to cross the road first? Järki käteen ja paina kaasua.

[riku2]

The rule of right of way does not apply to someone coming out of a parking lot. This right of way can create a funny situation also. I still remember my driving instructor telling us about a situation where at a crossroad without any traffic signs, 4 cars in each corner trying to cross the road... question was who gets to cross the road first? Järki käteen ja paina kaasua.

The 4 cars at a crossroads without traffic lights just sounds like a four way stop which is really common in the USA. The first person to get there has priority and you keep track of who is next in the "queue". This seems to work without trouble for human drivers but I read that self driving cars really struggle in this kind of situation, behaving like overly cautious learner drivers and to make it worse the other drivers cannot take any clues from the "driver" of the self driving car as to whether he's going to drive, is a bit hesitant and they themselves should go.

As for cars coming out of a parking lot - that is another problem with the give way to the right rule. you must evaluate if side roads are public roads (and you should give way to the right) or parking lots, large shops, farm driveways. It's not easy and you end up having to learn which roads are which. This is a catastrophe in my opinion. Roads should be immediately understandable and it's not good when you have a mix of people who don't know what to do and people who do know what to do. The Dutch and British have understood this and have good signs and junction layout. Finland is many years behind.

[Piet]

Finland is many years behind.

I agree, just look at the idiotic construction of exit lanes from the highway, most of them are really short and have a ridiculously sharp turn in it (and then imagine the winter time here when it is a bit slippery or driving with spikes)...

[cors187]

The whole of europe is stupid. Its slower and requires more interaction with other users.

[Flossy1978]

I found Finnish drivers are good drivers, with good road knowledge. Australians are terrible drivers. You only need to look at all the banged up cars to know they're sh*t drivers.

[Piet]

The whole of europe is stupid. Its slower and requires more interaction with other users.

I wouldn't go that far because there is just in most places not enough space (especially in the cities)

In general one could say that in the western part of Europe traffic rules and roads are constructed rather well, even though or because of the crowdedness. Consider the Netherlands being the most crowded place in Europe besides a city, they did rather well. Downside there is that you can nowhere drive the top speed because of the amount of cars on the road.
A traffic jam is in the whole country considered normal as the length of the total slow driving traffic is most of the time longer than the country is big (small 200km x 300km)
But one could learn from (for example) the so called clover leaf intersections (see picture below).

Of course one could compare everything with Indonesia where you have right of way when you honk first

[riku2]

one could learn from (for example) the so called clover leaf intersections (see picture below).

Are you quoting a clover leaf as a good example of a junction or a bad one? it's a poor junction design. Traffic comes on before traffic goes off!! that's the wrong way round. Traffic should leave first and new traffic join later. This avoids any weaving (in the photo you showed they have separate carriageways for this although the cars joining still have to cross lanes against the cars leaving).

Clover leaf juctions are cheap since there is only one bridge, but it doesn't make for a good junction. Bridges are what cost money with a junction (and it shows in finland with most motorway junctions also having just one bridge. A typical british motorway roundabout junction has two bridges).

If you want money-no-object efficient junctions then Dallas is a good place to look, they have the space and they have the money.. High Five: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Five_Interchange traffic on five levels and no weaving but just that junction alone cost $261 million!

[Piet]

one could learn from (for example) the so called clover leaf intersections (see picture below).

Are you quoting a clover leaf as a good example of a junction or a bad one? it's a poor junction design. Traffic comes on before traffic goes off!! that's the wrong way round. Traffic should leave first and new traffic join later. This avoids any weaving (in the photo you showed they have separate carriageways for this although the cars joining still have to cross lanes against the cars leaving).

Clover leaf juctions are cheap since there is only one bridge, but it doesn't make for a good junction. Bridges are what cost money with a junction (and it shows in finland with most motorway junctions also having just one bridge. A typical british motorway roundabout junction has two bridges).

If you want money-no-object efficient junctions then Dallas is a good place to look, they have the space and they have the money.. High Five: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Five_Interchange traffic on five levels and no weaving but just that junction alone cost $261 million!

No actually the only problem here (yes it is cheap and does not need a lot of space and that is the main reason for its existence, as said.. this is a smaller junction in Holland) is traffic coming from the left has to weave with traffic going to the left (both have to slow down anyway), the good thing is if you took the wrong turn, you just keep driving and you will get eventually back where you started, great fun with the motorbike by the way

My point was merely that it is a much better solution than what is current in the several junctions Finland has (mainly the size and length of the ramps)