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 ...
Hey City Slicker!
I lived in Western MA...and have actually missed rotaries since moving to CA...ugh, 4 way stops (every 1/4 mile) are such a curse.
New Jersey has been getting rid of them. They caused more accidents there. The one on Rte. 202 just outside of Flemington was awful.
Haven’t seen them much here in Austin except in some new shopping plazas.
I took my American car over there while in the Air Force, you had to turn your head a little bit more to the right to make sure you weren't entering the roundabout in front of somebody. I really liked the roundabout over stopsigns and stop lights. The British think we are crazy to have stop lights out in the country were you could wait almost a minute with no body coming, they just shake their heads over it.
I have driven roundabouts a lot.
I think they are indisputably much more efficient but they really scare me... if they were put in a country where the drivers aren’t used to them, they would be a death trap with accidents everywhere.
Interesting. I have noticed a few being built around my area, one on US-15 in Maryland just before the bridge into Virginia and another in Belmont Michigan. I think they can do wonders for traffic flow.
On the other hand, the horrible “roundabout” + stoplights scheme you see in DC is really a pain in the neck.
I spent some time there, too. Lived in Springfield, worked in Amherst. There was a busy rotary in West Springfield on Rt. 5.
“have actually missed rotaries since moving to CA...ugh, 4 way stops (every 1/4 mile) are such a curse.”
Go back you illegal alien!!!!
There was a round about in England that got me confused. I kept taking the first spoke with the city name I was looking for instead of the city name bypass spoke. After the second attempt I drove all the way around the round about and got the right spoke I needed, which I would of never found unless I drove further on around the first time.
Here's an early picture of the one that was near my apartment in Waco:
And here it is more recently:
I never knew there was a star until I found these photos just now.
It was such a novelty to have a traffic circle that one of the burger joints located there sold t-shirts with this logo:
I lived in bella Napoli, we had a roundabout that had a small radius with all kinds of roads intersecting and running near it. We called it the “Circle of Death”
The only traffic circle I’ve used with any kind of regularity is the one at Jones Beach (Long Island).
All I can say is...what a nightmare.
Regards,
I know the one you’re talking about...right along the river?
First rule when approaching a rotary: He who hesitates is lost.
I lived in Stockbridge. No need for rotaries. No one else was on the road.
I’ll rather see a roundabout anyday over a red light camara.
Well I’m an American driver and I’ve never had a problem loving Roundabout. It’s just that I like South Side Of The Sky a little bit more.
Lol!
Being illegal in CA isn’t a crime. It’s a badge of honor...not to mention a damn good excuse for free stuff
As for roundabouts, having learned to drive in Australia where there's an abundance of them, they work fine when you're on the street going with the flow of traffic. If you're on the side street, forget about it.
Roundabout? Oh right, the accident waiting to happen.
British people choke with laughter when they hear that we install roundabouts to ease traffic congestion. Anyone who drives through the roundabouts that infest DC knows that they are a dangerous nuisance (the roundabouts, not the British). They’re so unpleasant, in fact, that it has been suggested they were originally installed to deter and confuse any invading army.
I drive through a few every day. I hate them. I know perfectly well how to negotiate them and have done so without an accident throughout Europe as well as here at home, but nonetheless I hate them. It can be impossible to get into the correct lane to turn onto the exit you want without going around and around the stupid thing until someone lets you in.
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