Does Australia traffic use Roundabouts, as they do in Scotland
and England? I’ve heard they can be hectic and very confusing for many tourists.
Pretty much roundabouts are everywhere now.
Do they still have the “Michigan Left”?
I saw a couple and had to remind my self, stay left.
I’ve never been to Australia but have spent time in England and particularly the BVI and Cayman Islands.
Getting a car with right hand drive is important. It is both a good reminder as well as an important visibility aid at intersections.
It’s interesting to notice that tourists (and myself at times) look the wrong way for traffic when trying to cross the street. It’s funny how conditioned we become to a particular pattern.
Also interesting to note how efficient the traffic circles are in these countries. It’s the combination of drivers knowing how to properly use them and traffic circles properly sized for a smooth transition entering and exiting the circle.
Many cities here are trying to incorporate traffic circles in place of four way stops and traffic lights. But those two issues prevent their success. Ignorant drivers and vastly undersized circles for smooth functioning.
There are “roundabouts” and there are traffic circles.
The local government decided that one particularly pain-in-the-ass intersection around here would get a traffic circle. During morning commuter hours and school let-out times, traffic and wait times (at a 4-way stop) were intolerable. I was thinking one of those utterly chaotic circular areas like in Rome, Italy, where cars are moving around randomly in every direction, and I objected. Additionally, we have a giant eldercare facility around here and there are almost always badly goobered elderly drivers who can disrupt virtually any traffic condition.
I was informed that what they were planning was a “traffic circle”. This is a single-lane circle with exactly one rule: When someone is in or clearly approaching being in the circle, they own it. Period.
It works beautifully, I must say!
Roundabouts used to be called traffic circles, until some smarmy yuppy made roundabout popular.
When I was a kid they used to call a Roundabout, a Rotary. They put in Roundabouts on the roadway through Griffiss Business Park, which was once Griffiss Airforce Base here in Rome, NY. I know how to drive on them. Most other people here don’t. I usually take a different route when I go out so I can avoid them. They were part of Andrew Cuomo’s plans to expand the community college annex here, so you know someone he knew or one of his big donors got a kickback from the construction. The worst city I came across for Roundabouts is Indianapolis. It seems there’s one about every block once you get off the main highway.
Yes, roundabouts are the norm in Australia, even in tiny suburban neighborhoods. In fact, Australians seem baffled by the concept of 4-way stop signs, imagining that it must be difficult and confusing to judge who reached the intersection first. That’s a skill we seem to take entirely for granted.
Ya ought to try the one in East Kilbride Scotland. Thats a real dandy.
I drove in Scotland. Driving on the left was bad enough but the roundabouts are killers. They’re everywhere. And some of them have many exits and entries. Very confusing. We were in the country by Inverness...the middle of nowhere...and there was a roundabout! lol
Roundabouts are simple and effective, reducing traffic fatalities heavily