"In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky
And they stand there!"
Posted on 07/21/2009 6:58:18 PM PDT by Arec Barrwin
Don't Be So Square Why American drivers should learn to love the roundabout.
By Tom Vanderbilt Posted Monday, July 20, 2009, at 6:54 AM ET
Here is a narrative that has been playing out over the last several years in any number of American towns: Traffic engineers notice that a particular intersection has a crash problem or is moving traffic inefficiently. After a period of study, the engineers propose a roundabout.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
I have a truck. I drive right across the grass in the middle.
I hate it when people don’t follow the order at 4 way stop signs. Drives me insane.
Roundabout? Are you referring to a Traffic Circle?
I also like roundabouts.
I love them. Single lane only though. If it’s multi lane, use a stop light.
“Another problem is that the word roundabout brings up for many people an image of an old “traffic circle” or, in the Northeast, a “rotary” intersection. But these are not necessarily roundabouts, just as the Arc de Triomphe is not a roundabout, nor is New York City’s Columbus Circle (which, for the record, is acknowledged as the world’s first “rotary system” intersection).
The two are fundamentally different beasts. You are in a modern roundabout if it is the entering driver who must yield to traffic already circling. You are NOT in a modern roundabout if you are expected to yield to entering drivers or if you encounter traffic lights or stop signs.”
I’d love to kick the **** out of the moron who designed the one on the north end of Payson, Arizona.
For some reason drivers in Latin American and Europe can figure out the roundabout concept but American drivers cannot.
The smaller ones may be a bit of a challenge for larger trucks, though.
"In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky
And they stand there!"
Gotta hand it to Michigan. Leave it to the “Motor City”. We have had a boatload of roundabouts constructed here in Oakland County over the last couple of years. I love ‘em. Best compromise ever invented for intersections.
There’s quite a few here in Golden, Colorado. They’re pretty sweet. Seen ‘em first in UAE, though.
i learned to drive roundabouts overseas, and wish we used them more here. but drivers herw could use more training.
I hate 4 way stops just because of how dangerous they are, I have nearly been hit a couple of times because people don’t wait their turn. I however hate roundabouts as they can be even more dangerous.
O.k., I'll lay off the coffee a while. You would think it is people who go before their turn at a 4-way stop that aggravates me the most, but it is these people who really grate at me.
A city next to where I live has had one of those things forever. We hicks call it a circle.
A circle is a terrible idea. The spokes come up quite fast, and it’s easy to miss where you want to go and have to ride around again. Each trip around contributes to clogging traffic on the spokes. Ideally, if you’re going more than 1/2 way around, you should move to the inner lane, then migrate out as you approach your destination. You really want Americans to figure that out?
My mother got in a crash one time at the circle, and from then on would go miles out of her way to avoid the darn thing.
Save them for Europe, we don't need any U.N. crap over here. They need to move their congregation elsewhere also.
And that tune plays in my head every time I drive through one. :)
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