Driver goes wrong way around busy Harlequin roundabout in Newport

WRONG WAY: The silver hatchback goes anticlockwise around the roundabout WRONG WAY: The silver hatchback goes anticlockwise around the roundabout

  THIS driver was lucky not to cause a crash after driving the wrong way round a busy Newport roundabout.

The hapless motorist drove along Heidenheim Drive towards Newport on Tuesday afternoon and approached the Harlequin roundabout, only to turn right at the traffic lights and drive directly into oncoming traffic.

Argus reader Lyndon Marshall, 53, snapped this picture as he walked from his home in Barrack Hill to Sainsbury’s at around 2.20pm.

He said: “I heard car horns going and thought ‘Oh Jesus Christ’ I was very shocked. It’s a miracle there was no major accident - it’s a major roundabout.”

Mr Marshall said he always carries his camera in his pocket and managed to get a couple of shots.

He said the driver realised their mistake, stopped, put their hazard lights on and reversed before turning right and driving down Malpas Road - in the correct direction.

A Gwent Police spokesman said: “Officers will investigate the incident captured in the photograph.

Any witnesses to the incident should call 101.”

The aftermath of the crash on Fair View in Cefn Forest

SEE ALSO: Mum’s terror as car flies through the air and impaled on Blackwood railings

Comments(15)

sperduti says...
11:19am Thu 11 Oct 12

well i see this all the time in north street baneswell it is clearly signposted it is a one way street but they come up pump street and into north street either turning down in to bridge street or going up to stow hill!!!

smokintheweed says...
11:31am Thu 11 Oct 12

Oh my god! there could have been a very serious accident!!!!!

If it wasn't for the fact that there are many traffic lights on this roundabout that slows everything down to a snails pace even when there is little traffic. "Madness?" No. More like mild confusion.

GwentVoice says...
11:43am Thu 11 Oct 12

I've witnessed to old dears do this on this roundabout. ,how can you get it wrong when all the signs are pointing the wrong way and the kerbs are shaped making it awkward.

Everyone says about young drivers, it's old ones are lethal! They've got no reaction skills and plod along at an equally slow/dangerous pace.

GwentVoice says...
11:43am Thu 11 Oct 12

Bus passes are given out for a reason - they make our roads safer. This driver should be prosecuted for dangerous driving and banned!

Michael Weedall says...
11:58am Thu 11 Oct 12

GwentVoice wrote:
Bus passes are given out for a reason - they make our roads safer. This driver should be prosecuted for dangerous driving and banned!
Very funny

Head Honcho says...
1:35pm Thu 11 Oct 12

sperduti wrote:
well i see this all the time in north street baneswell it is clearly signposted it is a one way street but they come up pump street and into north street either turning down in to bridge street or going up to stow hill!!!
This is clearly a case of driving without due care and attention. Dangerous I agree but I doubt she meant to do it.

Drivers in Baneswell know they are breaking the law and are just using the one way streets as a short cut.

youngashie says...
2:48pm Thu 11 Oct 12

GwentVoice wrote:
Bus passes are given out for a reason - they make our roads safer. This driver should be prosecuted for dangerous driving and banned!
To insinuate that the driver was an older person is age discrimination i can only assume that you know who that driver was if so you should inform the police so that they can investigate the matter.If not may i suggest that you keep such ageist comments to yourself. ?How many times on police camera action programes on T.V have you seen so called older drivers taking stupid risks not many i suspect but the number of young drivers that act & drive as if they have left their brains at home are far to many to be counted.

lowandhardandinthecorner says...
3:27pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Exactly, it's no accident ( pun intended ) that young men's insurance is so high. The trouble with this type of incident is that there are far too many road signs . Fewer and clearer directional notices would be far better'
Who can honestly say that they haven't been confused when driving through a strange city? I wonder how many people miss red lights in Blackpool when the illuminations are on.

Dave on his Soapbox says...
5:26pm Thu 11 Oct 12

..part of the problem with this ROUNDABOUT....is the fact it has traffic lights on it....and in most other circumstances.....tr
affic lights are at road JUNCTIONS where you turn left/right or go straight ahead....therefore even though there are road signs showing the roundabout......many people miss road signs.
A simple test of any driver.....is to pass a road sign...and then ask them what was the last sign we just passed....just see how many can answer correctly.
Conversly...the number of drivers who don't see the traffic lights and go through on RED...is also a problem on this roundabout.

Dave on his Soapbox says...
5:29pm Thu 11 Oct 12

.....the other thing drivers miss at this roundabout...particu
larly Newport bus drivers....are the directional arrows which each of the 3 lanes pictured has.
Regularly they go in the left hand lane....marked for Albany Street.....and as the proceed.....actually come around to the right to head off towards the castle/Old Green.

emlynkide says...
9:07pm Thu 11 Oct 12

yes, only this morning i was following a blue fiesta along malpas rd. toward cwmbran and he went through two red lights,even though he had plenty of time to stop.

Dolieboy says...
7:42am Fri 12 Oct 12

emlynkide wrote:
yes, only this morning i was following a blue fiesta along malpas rd. toward cwmbran and he went through two red lights,even though he had plenty of time to stop.
I nearly got T boned by someone going through a red light. Should have more cameras.

Mervyn James says...
8:28am Fri 12 Oct 12

Keep death off the road keep cyclists off them ! I saw 3 of them yesterday go straight across 3 red lights weaving in and out of cars and knocking an old lady over as she crossed on the zebra crossing..... When they aren't playing death race 2012 on our roads, they are trying to run us down on the pavements. It is if they want to die or something.

Cymru Am Beth says...
2:29pm Fri 12 Oct 12

lowandhardandintheco
rner
wrote:
Exactly, it's no accident ( pun intended ) that young men's insurance is so high. The trouble with this type of incident is that there are far too many road signs . Fewer and clearer directional notices would be far better' Who can honestly say that they haven't been confused when driving through a strange city? I wonder how many people miss red lights in Blackpool when the illuminations are on.
I think that you have a valid point.
When you go to somewhere you are not familiar with, it can be difficult to compute when you have traffic pressurising you to move on.

chris227 says...
10:30pm Sat 13 Oct 12

the driver was so absolutely gobsmacked on how run down deprived the town had become he took his concentration from the road.

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