What do you think of traffic "Roundabouts"?

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Basically an intersection for rich people.

 

[Rangerpat]

The county I lived in put a roundabout at an intersection of three roads to help with traffic control, the intersection was the site of some very bad accidents with fatalities prior to the roundabout.
What the roundabout accomplished was for people to drive slower so if there is a collision it lessens the chance of fatalities, and it does keep the traffic flowing. It does take a bit of getting used to at first but it works as planned.... as long as drivers pay attention to driving and not distracted.

 

[GaryS]

They have been steadily eliminating them here in NJ. When they were first introduced they were very efficient in handling 1920s-1950s traffic and vehicles but now they're seen as inefficient and often unsafe.

And of course, less chance for some politicians brother in law to get the contract to install and maintain the traffic lights.

We've had them in New England since way before I was born, so no one thinks twice about them. Over the years I don't recall responding to many accidents at them that didn't involve drunk drivers. A couple of those were impressive for the amount of undercarriage damage done as the car plowed across the center of the rotary. That includes one of our guys that drove the ambulance just a leeetle bit too quickly and saved himself from a rollover by going over the rotary and through a freshly planted flower bed in the middle. I wish I had a camera that day.

When I first got my license, they were governed as the French rotaries NCTexas describes. The vehicles entering had the right of way and those on the rotary had to yield. Then at some point after that, the law was changed so that the vehicles entering had to yield. Which makes more sense if you think about it. Which makes the change in the law even more surprising because rarely do legislators use any sense.

For a while, they were being replaced by conventional intersections, but they seem to be having a resurgence in popularity around here.

Roundabout is used in England and in Garmin GPS units. We just call them rotaries.

 

[GRIZZLYBEAR]

I don't give them a thought....I can with 'em or with out 'em

 

[johngalt]

We have lots of them going in around here..started round about 5 years ago...

Dizzy yet?

 

[johngalt]

I like them, although the few I've seen take up an excessive amount of space. Cuts down on the stop & go driving.

 

[Arik]

I hate them, i hate them, i wish nothing good to those who design them....especially in NJ!

Jersey has "circles" and half circles aka jug handles and they both suck equally well!!!

Some circles are so small they condense 4 lanes to one, others have signs posted that you arnt sure of where they are pointing. Then some Einstein decided to add some jug handles here and there for left turns but just random enough to ***** everything. Some jug handles are before the light, some after the light but in a different lane and sometimes a left turn is just a left turn

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[duppie]

I grew up with them in the Caribbean and Europe. I don't see an issue as they are practical,easy and cheap to maintain and make perfect sense.
The problem comes when some operators have to actually think while driving and abide by some very basic rules of the road such as alternating right of way. We no longer drive in America,we merely operate a conveyance.Gone are the skills like downshifting and engine breaking,heel and toe,threshold breaking,drafting to pass and yes the common sense necessary to safely and efficiently navigate a traffic circle or roundabout.
The professional truckers among us know what I mean.

 

[finesse_r]

You Mean Suicide Circles

Hey, hey, it took me forever to figure out what you was talking about when you used the term roundabouts. Because that word has a totally different meaning here. I mean here you would say that old Jake lives roundabouts here somewhere or roundabouts the Jefferson place.

You using roundabouts as a noun for a type of street intersection. Being less progressive than England and other areas, we don't have any of those. I think we mostly refer to them as Russian Roulette Intersections or sometimes just Suicide Circles. I hear they are mostly used by depressed housewifes, and business men that have gone bankrupt, and of course the young and foolish.

I am impressed to hear of one on a highway with three lanes going each way. Wow there must be some seriously depressed or seriously drunk people to use that intersection. Not being very "progressive" here in Texas we mostly use the old fashioned spaghetti bowls with layers and layers of over passes. I know those cost more to build, and that they are boring as they make having a collision much more difficult, but we just have not "progressed" to the point of suicide circles yet.

We still allow our citizens to carry guns to reduce violent crime and we don't build suicide circles (with one or two exceptions) like more "progressive" areas.

 

[BearBio]

I've driven them all my life and they are the worst thing invented for highways with the exception of freeway on-ramp stop signs (not signals or meters but actual stop signs at the bottom of the on-ramp).

 

[BobC357]

The worst circle I ever encountered was in England where there was one big circle with 5 other interconnecting circles around it. It takes a week just to decypher the road signs approaching the thing. Someone said it was magic. The only thing magic is getting out of it alive.

 

[duppie]

The worst circle I ever encountered was in England where there was one big circle with 5 other interconnecting circles around it. It takes a week just to decypher the road signs approaching the thing. Someone said it was magic. The only thing magic is getting out of it alive.

Is it possible that your experience and subsequent opinion is influenced by the fact that your were driving on the opposite side of the road than you're used to?
I started driving shifting with my left hand and found it rather difficult to initially adapt to driving on the right hand side of the road,further complicated by traveling and driving on both sides during a year....change is hard especially when engaging in an activity that becomes intuitive after awhile.

 

[CW Spook]

I hated the first roundabouts I encountered in England, but after two weeks there I found myself wondering why we didn't have them everywhere in the US. They're so much better than getting stuck waiting out two or more traffic light changes.

 

[BobC357]

Is it possible that your experience and subsequent opinion is influenced by the fact that your were driving on the opposite side of the road than you're used to?
I started driving shifting with my left hand and found it rather difficult to initially adapt to driving on the right hand side of the road,further complicated by traveling and driving on both sides during a year....change is hard especially when engaging in an activity that becomes intuitive after awhile.

Most of them weren't bad but this one was a doozie. I was in England for a year and drove around quite a bit. This one, however, had at least 4 billboard type signs as you approached it telling you how to navigate the thing. One circle isn't any problem. One with 5 around it all interconnected is quite something else.

I agree that learning how to shift was a trip. Reach for the shifter and open the door! It only takes a few weeks to get it being normal as did their very narrow roads and where they put street name signs.

 

[wyccad915]

I like them. Many people do not know how to use them and that is the problem. I think it does provide a better flow and sometimes it's just better then a 4 way stop or traffic light. Probably cheaper too compared to the latter.

 

[duppie]

Most of them weren't bad but this one was a doozie. I was in England for a year and drove around quite a bit. This one, however, had at least 4 billboard type signs as you approached it telling you how to navigate the thing. One circle isn't any problem. One with 5 around it all interconnected is quite something else.

I agree that learning how to shift was a trip. Reach for the shifter and open the door! It only takes a few weeks to get it being normal as did their very narrow roads and where they put street name signs.

I've seen the same signage on roundabouts usually near ferry crossings,foreign military bases,border crossings and anywhere a non local might encounter a unique to that area traffic pattern.
We here are used to the highways,freeways,turnpikes and thruways that transverse America's vast expanses but remember in the old world the majority of smaller roads are basically just paved ancient cattle and livestock trails with all their blind corners,meandering routes and narrow transverses. I love driving in Europe as it challenges my skill with a clutch,shifter and road awareness, not to mention in some instances.....intestinal fortitude.
I have not taken the time or interest to even learn how to use a cruise control in all the automobiles I've owned here in America as I equate it not so much to driving but to REM sleep.

 

[jaykellogg]

I would say I generally like them. Here in Asheville the red lights are 2 minutes and running red lights is something pretty much everyone does. I will say the single lane ones work better than multi lane. I am familiar with a couple in NJ which are on the road between Cherry Hill and Manahawken. Those are multi lane.

I think they are planning to add more in this area.

 

[LVSteve]

Most of them weren't bad but this one was a doozie. I was in England for a year and drove around quite a bit. This one, however, had at least 4 billboard type signs as you approached it telling you how to navigate the thing. One circle isn't any problem. One with 5 around it all interconnected is quite something else.

I agree that learning how to shift was a trip. Reach for the shifter and open the door! It only takes a few weeks to get it being normal as did their very narrow roads and where they put street name signs.

I'm guessing that was either one of the big ones outside Swindon or the infamous Sadler's Farm interchange in Essex. Those multiple ones even used to get me from time to time.

 

[LVSteve]

I have not taken the time or interest to even learn how to use a cruise control in all the automobiles I've owned here in America as I equate it not so much to driving but to REM sleep.

I came from England and I happen to think cruise control is an invention up there with the wheel and sliced bread. After driving in Nevada for a couple of weeks my right ankle came to appreciate it, that's for sure.

 

[Skeptic 9c]

Basically an intersection for rich people.

And I suspect a money-maker for tort lawyers. They are encouraging one here in beautiful St. Augustine, as a magic cure-all for bad street design.

Geoff
Who notes the original roads in beautiful St. Augustine harken back to cattle paths and military expediency.