Don't Be So Square - Why American Drivers should learn to love the Roundabout

Slate ^ | July 20, 2009 | Tom Vanderbilt

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Roundabouts = control

No thanks. You guys can drink the koolaid, but I hate 'em. Give me good old traffic signals and stop signs anyday.

[NY Attitude]

only 3 items necessary, the horn, the accelerator and one hand free to gesture with. backing down or braking is not allowed.

[GeronL]

those are ridiculous things.

[LukeL]

How about the idiots who don’t go straight through when the car across from them is going straight through? Or those who try to follow the car in front of them?

[05 Mustang GT Rocks]

If I remember correctly in Great Britain the drivers entering the roundabout yield, in France you yield to the entering drivers. I had fun in England going left entering the roundabouts.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Awesome. I love the live version of this song from Yessongs.

Have you seen the acoustic version of Long Distance Runaround from the Relayer tour? Brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7NlyzpGcnQ

I believe I’m one of the few under the age of 35 who loves Yes...lol

[dalereed]

Hell no, they are a pile of crap!!!!

Keep the foreign crap foreign!

[Tamar1973]

Roundabouts are the reason that Europeans and Koreans are such bad drivers, IMO!

[Jemian]

I hate them.

[shankbear]

OK....I drove a bunch in France and they have roundabouts everywhere. They keep traffic moving much better. I know it is France but it isn’t such a horrible place. I found the same thing in Belgium.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

You nailed it...

[Klondike]

Traffic engineers in Europe have studies that show safety is increased when striping and traffic control signs are removed. They claim that cars slow down
and it makes it safer for bicycles and pedestrians.
A small town in Oregon has started to implement this on some narrow streets. I hate to admit it but it does help.

[Kieri]

I’ve only been through the craziness up in the Brighton area off 23. That SPUI is just nuts.

I’d live with roundabouts if they’d get rid of the Michigan Left. The one where you can wait through four traffic lights just to make a left turn.

[Clemenza]

Roundabouts make the lives of anyone who lives in New Jersey a LIVING HELL. There is a reason why the state is FINALLY phasing them out!

NO TO TRAFFIC CIRCLES!!!

[LukeL]

I will say that is true, on country roads that have no markings or signs, I go 45 at most even though if the same road has markings I would go 60

[Ditter]

I love traffic circles, they make sense to me. Much better than intersections with 3 lanes in each direction, 2 straight ahead and a left turn. After Hurricane Ike and for 2 weeks when we had no electricity driving anywhere was a nightmare because of the stop and go traffic at the intersections. Imagine 12 lanes of traffic each having to wait until it was their turn to proceeded.

[Balding_Eagle]

LOL! I like that.

[Magic Fingers]

"I’d love to kick the **** out of the moron who designed the one on the north end of Payson, Arizona." You and me both.

[Past Your Eyes]

A couple have been built recently around here. I was skeptical at first but they seem to work great and are much preferable to a light or a 3- or 4-way stop. They are NOT the same as traffic circles. Work best in tighter, more congested, slow speed situations. I expect to see more of them and think that it will be good to have them.

[LukeL]

Are you not allowed to enter the intersection and make a left turn as the light turns from yellow to red?