Someone mentioned roundabouts

[coach]

in another thread about Indian drivers. Maryland has been replacing traffic lights and four way stops with them over the past few years. At first I thought it was just a way to spend tax money, but I like them. Often I don’t need to stop, only slow down a little to use them. One large intersection with 6 roads converging is much quicker to get through than when it had signals. The only downside is when people don’t understand how they work and come to a complete stop when they shouldn’t. Many people don’t understand four way stops either.

 

[Kevin]

There are a couple roundabouts here. I agree, they are much quicker than waiting at a light. Bulgaria has a lot of them, I had a quick learning curve there on how not to annoy other drivers. :D

 

[Fox Mike]

Proper navigation of "roundabouts/traffic circles" should be a requirement for obtaining a driver's license.

 

[Bob Wright]

I had never seen nor heard of a "roundabout" until I went up north. We were driving along and came to one and I think I made about six revolutions before I got out of the thing. Once you get on the inside lane, that's it!

We were in Massachusetts as I recall, close to Boston. The drivers there had a tremendous command of profanity and obscenities. And the men were just as bad!

Bob Wright

 

[coach]

“And the men were just as bad!” :lol:

 

[rugerguy211]

I had never seen nor heard of a "roundabout" until I went up north. We were driving along and came to one and I think I made about six revolutions before I got out of the thing. Once you get on the inside lane, that's it!

We were in Massachusetts as I recall, close to Boston. The drivers there had a tremendous command of profanity and obscenities. And the men were just as bad!

Bob Wright

We call them "rotaries".
They are quicker to get through than traffic lights if there are clear and obvious roads coming into and exiting, and maybe only 3-5 of those total.
However, there is one in northern MA that sits over a 6 lane highway.
There are 10 roads coming into or leaving that rotary.
They used to sell bumper stickers that said "This car survived the Chelmsford rotary!".
The state finally installed lights (many years ago now) and it has been much safer since then.

And yes...we Bostonians do have a rather extensive vocabulary, specifically for while driving. :-)

 

[krw]

We dont have a traffic light in the entire county where I live

 

[Jeepnik]

I have seen one that actually worked. It wasn't completely uncontrolled. It had a few yield signs. It also had two lanes. It's located at what is likely one of the busiest intersections in the Bakersfield area. When I first went up there it was a two way stop. Then a four way, and finally had a light. It was always a mess in the mornings and evenings .

I was gone for a while and when I started going back up they had the circle. Works very well and traffic is much improved.

 

[eveled]

They work well, until they don’t. They can only handle so much traffic, then they they gridlock. With some roads never getting a chance to merge on. Like 4 way stops they work better if the rules are followed.

If you google it there is a technical difference between Rotarys and Roundabouts. I read it three times and can’t make sense of it.

 

[Gator89]

I prefer to call them "free for alls"

 

[Dan in MI]

The claim to fame for roundabouts is less major injuries than a regular stop light intersection. What they don't say, unless you dig around, is the accident rate goes up. You have many more accidents, but they are low speed fender benders versus the occasional high speed smash up.

 

[loaded round]

You guys don't have indoor plumbing either!

We dont have a traffic light in the entire county where I live

 

[coach]

The claim to fame for roundabouts is less major injuries than a regular stop light intersection. What they don't say, unless you dig around, is the accident rate goes up. You have many more accidents, but they are low speed fender benders versus the occasional high speed smash up.

I would rather have a fender bender rather than get T boned by somebody running a red light.

 

[DeletedMember275]

You have not experienced a traffic circle/roundabout until you have driven in a major city in the Middle East. There, you will find drivers from many different countries and parts of the world. Many of them have only been driving for a few years, and have no concept of orderly traffic flow. It tends to be ... interesting, and frequently challenging!

In my experience, most Americans do not understand how traffic circles are intended to work. Fox Mike mentions Maryland, and I lived there for over 20 years. Marylanders, in particular, have little concept of how the things work. Just saying.

 

[Colonialgirl]

They are quite common in England and work quite well there !

 

[krw]

You guys don't have indoor plumbing either!

We dont have a traffic light in the entire county where I live

We actually have it, but with nearest neighbor 3/4mi behind house, I use the backporch mostly :D

 

[Fox Mike]

I have a "Tee" shirt that has a tire tread Mark across the front and says "I survived Boston traffic". If you have never had the 'pleasure', Boston traffic is 'interesting' to say the least.

 

[Mobuck]

"We dont have a traffic light in the entire county where I live"

Nor do we and we don't have any of those bleepity bleep, bleep, bleep "roundy round things" either. OK maybe those !@#$% things are fine if you only drive a car, but they're the devil's own work if you happen to drive something bigger/longer.

 

[Bob Wright]

Proper navigation of "roundabouts/traffic circles" should be a requirement for obtaining a driver's license.

Why? If one stays in the South simply avoid those things!


Bob Wright

 

[Fox Mike]

Proper navigation of "roundabouts/traffic circles" should be a requirement for obtaining a driver's license.

Why? If one stays in the South simply avoid those things!


Bob Wright

Wait; this statement from the person that didn't know how to drive around one. Where is Mud Island? New Allen Road and Ridgemont Avenue is having one installed. Aren't they "in the South"? :roll:

 

[Cholo]

Chattanooga, TN started about 15+ years ago and has a bunch of them now. No problems. They're kinda fun to take at about 20 mph over the posted speed limit on a motorcycle :)

 

[Ale-8(1)]

"We dont have a traffic light in the entire county where I live"

Nor do we and we don't have any of those bleepity bleep, bleep, bleep "roundy round things" either. OK maybe those !@#$% things are fine if you only drive a car, but they're the devil's own work if you happen to drive something bigger/longer.

. . . like a combine with a twelve-row corn head? :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Somebody's been traveling the country selling the idea of "traffic circles" or whatever you wish to call them, to every little Podunk town they can coerce the local rubes to buy into... and they've been doing a pretty good sales job!

Problem in my area is the meeting of bad engineering and human nature. We've got a couple which try to funnel six lanes of traffic down into a single lane passage thru the circle of death. What a flippin' mess.

A buddy tells me I'd have a better attitude about them if I lived in The Netherlands. From his stories it seems they started with lots of bare ground, all around, and built mas grande circles BEFORE building anything else right up to the edges, or worse, trying to carve some extra space out of the corner of a merchant's business, as they've done here. Anyway, he tells me the Dutch idea involves a three ring circle, with autos on the outer ring, which is also big enough for buses, big trucks and emergency vehicles (many of ours fail that part of the test), bicycles in the middle ring, and pedestrians in the small center ring. It sounded like bikes and pedestrians have some kind of a tunnel arrangement to keep them away from motor traffic. Bicycles and cars have coexisted in their country long enough there's little if any friction between autos and bikes. He said the biggest area of confusion seems to be pedestrians vs bikes. I'd have to see one in action, but just looking at the cocktail napkin map he drew, it sounds like a much better deal than our cobbled up afterthoughts!

Then we add driver training! IF local drivers would treat them more like 4 way stops, things might work ok even with a lot of rolling stops. But when you can wait for several minutes to get into one that's full of "I'm important, get out of my way" types, it's not pretty.

Rick C

 

[farley]

Can’t stand the things. Leave them to the Europeans.

 

[Mobuck]

." like a combine with a twelve-row corn head?"

Or even just the head on a 4 wheel "header cart" behind a full sized pickup. That lash up ends up being something over 60' long (nearly the length of a semi and trailer) with far less control than a semi. Plus the load is often 10-12' wide.
We bought a header wagon in central MO a couple months back and had to re-route our return trip due to a pair of roundi-bouts that were too narrow and tight to negotiate with the empty wagon.

 

[contender]

"Why? If one stays in the South simply avoid those things!"

Uhh Bob,, we have been invaded by the North,, and have them in the South now. In fact,, I have 2 in my home County,, and 2 in one neighboring County,, and 1 in another neighboring County,, and more planned.

"Nor do we and we don't have any of those bleepity bleep, bleep, bleep "roundy round things" either. OK maybe those !@#$% things are fine if you only drive a car, but they're the devil's own work if you happen to drive something bigger/longer."

It's funny you mention that. The 2 in my home County,, were built,, across an interstate connector. THEN the horse people pitched a fit! The Tryon International Equestrian Center was to host the world games a year or two back. And apparently, the round-abouts were NOT easy to navigate with horse trailers etc. So,, they built a whole new interchange all around these 2 round-abouts to allow bigger vehicles to travel around things.
Government at work for sure!

I can see the concept behind them. Yet,, I often chuckle at Miss Penny's comment; "This ain't Europe, this is America. I hate the dern things!"

As noted,, certain traffic features work,, IF,, IF,, people would use them correctly. But let's throw in the human variable. A new teenage driver,, can either blast through, or come to a stop & be confused. A tourist can get on one & get lost,, or suddenly decide to turn after they get right on top of their road exit. Or an elderly person can enter one, get confused & just plain stop,, and then wave people out of a road.

No matter what,, there will always be problems when you have PEOPLE involved.

 

[Colonialgirl]

You guys don't have indoor plumbing either!

We dont have a traffic light in the entire county where I live

We actually have it, but with nearest neighbor 3/4mi behind house, I use the backporch mostly :D

You sound like my Uncle Russell (May he rest in Peace); When My Aunt complained about it, he stepped OFF the porch, turned around an did it ON the Porch. HMMM, No more complaints from my aunt !!

 

[powder smoke]

Traffic circles is what we call them. We have been using them for years. ps

 

[GhosT]

Traffic circles are larger than roundabouts.
We have a not large Traffic circle 200 yards from the factory I have been working at for 41 + years now.
96% of people use it fine.
3% seem confused,......but every few months the 1 per-centers,make the local news.
They ( usually drunk or high) TURN LEFT ONTO THE CIRCLE!!! :roll:

No deaths, people average 25 mph on this circle.
But as 6 main roads feed into this circle, any minor accident on it at rush hour,people come home to a cold dinner. :lol:

 

[gramps]

I don’t like them! None in my county, but nearby Rutherford is embracing the concept! Grr! It is faster IMO to have a four way stop. You can SEE your traffic. Ever tried driving an firetruck around them? What they do to the landscaping is a terrible sight. Then there are the goofballs who have been out partying and go “ straight home”! We have fought wars to be American. Leave the “OLD WORLD” stuff over there. IMO
gramps