British roundabout conquering the US

[Zatch]

A roundabout revolution is slowly sweeping the US. The land of the car, where the stop sign and traffic light have ruled for decades, has started to embrace the free-flowing British circular...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13863498

[Watch]

I have used the ones we do have in Los Angeles.
I know they at least, in some cases, are effective in minimizing the amount of damage you do to someone if you are to run a stop sign at a roundabout. The roundabouts I have used have always been on side streets, not major intersections.

[bkreigh]

I just went back home (Indiana) to visit family for the first time in years and i ran into plenty of roundabouts in Noblesville. I cant say i was pleased about them because it wasnt how i remembered how to get from point A to point B.

[tpreitzel]

"This is a culture predicated on freedom and individualism, where spontaneous co-operation is difficult and regimentation is resisted.
"You see it in the way Americans get in line, or as the Brits say, queue. We don't do that very well.

"After you, my lady"
"Thank you, sir"

LoL

[RM918]

Roundabout? These better not be traffic circles, I hate those things. Have to plow through one whenever going down to the shore.

[sevin]

I like them. Statistically, they're safer and faster than ordinary intersections.

[tpreitzel]

Roundabout? These better not be traffic circles, I hate those things. Have to plow through one whenever going down to the shore.

A Billy Preston tune comes to mind ... "Will it go round in circles?" .... "like a bird up in the sky" ... "Will it go round in circles?" ...

[Vessol]

Lol, I read this as

"British is roundabouting conquering the U.S"

I thought it was going to be some conspiracy thread about how the UK has secretly been conquering the U.S.

[tpreitzel]

Lol, I read this as

"British is roundabouting conquering the U.S"

I thought it was going to be some conspiracy thread about how the UK has secretly been conquering the U.S.

Maybe, it's part of a larger plan ... err plot. ;)

[TheViper]

Several have been built here over the past decade or so but always in low traffic suburban neighborhoods (plus 1 downtown). I don't mind them in those locations but I can only imagine how quickly traffic would lock up after putting one in a major 8x8 lane intersection.

[AGRP]

My favorite one (in portland :) ) Stag David P. Thompson, 1900

http://museumofthecity.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/exhibit-full-size-fluid/storage/asset/image/55/2011/2/DSC05187.JPG

Driving in Portland can be a challenge for some, but it becomes a little more interesting when there is a full-sized stag in the middle of a major thoroughfare. Erected in 1900, the stag sculpture was added to a public horse trough. While the trough is now only used by Portland's mounted police, the stag stands as a representation of Portland's wilder times, when plenty of four-legged animals used the streets along side the street cars, pedestrians and omnibuses.http://www.museumofthecity.org/exhibit/1900-deer-watering-trough

[LibertyRevolution]

The roundabouts here all have stop signs before you enter the roundabouts. So kind of pointless.
So from a complete stop you have to floor it to 30 so you don't get smacked by the cars on the roundabout.
I really don't like them.

[specsaregood]

Roundabout? These better not be traffic circles, I hate those things. Have to plow through one whenever going down to the shore.

Typical jerseyan. You probaly love the hell out of jughandles though.

I love roundabouts aka: traffic circles. However, worth noting in some countries the people ENTERING the circle have the right of way, now thats effed up.

[ihsv]

The roundabouts in Carmel are awesome. We have to travel through that town every time we visit the in-laws, and it's so much quicker now that they've ditched the stoplights on 31/Meridian Street. They can be a little disconcerting, but once you understand the traffic pattern it actually makes a lot of sense.

[fatjohn]

My favorite one (in portland :) ) Stag David P. Thompson, 1900

http://museumofthecity.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/exhibit-full-size-fluid/storage/asset/image/55/2011/2/DSC05187.JPG

Driving in Portland can be a challenge for some, but it becomes a little more interesting when there is a full-sized stag in the middle of a major thoroughfare. Erected in 1900, the stag sculpture was added to a public horse trough. While the trough is now only used by Portland's mounted police, the stag stands as a representation of Portland's wilder times, when plenty of four-legged animals used the streets along side the street cars, pedestrians and omnibuses.http://www.museumofthecity.org/exhibit/1900-deer-watering-trough

Lol there's like a giant pole up the deer's ass.

[Velho]

Roundabouts for teh win. Can't imagine traffic without them. :D

[MelissaWV]

The roundabouts here all have stop signs before you enter the roundabouts. So kind of pointless.
So from a complete stop you have to floor it to 30 so you don't get smacked by the cars on the roundabout.
I really don't like them.

This.

Also, if it's a roundabout on a busy street (and "busy" can even be inside a shopping center, etc.) and you are entering from a less busy side, you're screwed. I have literally sat at a roundabout for 10 minutes or so waiting for an eensy weensy opening where I had to floor it and wedge myself in and pray the person coming around with the right of way had good brakes and would use them. If it had been a stop sign intersection, I would not have had this issue. People also don't signal that they're getting out of a roundabout, so you're never quite sure. In contrast, most folks around here signal they are turning after a 4-way stop, or else I can see their hand on the wheel and know. Roundabouts just obscure part of my view.

I've never understood the blind love of the things. They are only slightly kinder than speed humps.

[Velho]

This.

Also, if it's a roundabout on a busy street (and "busy" can even be inside a shopping center, etc.) and you are entering from a less busy side, you're screwed. I have literally sat at a roundabout for 10 minutes or so waiting for an eensy weensy opening where I had to floor it and wedge myself in and pray the person coming around with the right of way had good brakes and would use them. If it had been a stop sign intersection, I would not have had this issue. People also don't signal that they're getting out of a roundabout, so you're never quite sure. In contrast, most folks around here signal they are turning after a 4-way stop, or else I can see their hand on the wheel and know. Roundabouts just obscure part of my view.

I've never understood the blind love of the things. They are only slightly kinder than speed humps.

Wow, people there sure sound like maniacs on the road. Where I come from almost everyone signals when they're about to exit and the roundabouts are steep enough to leave gaps between the cars. I guess it's a cultural thing.

[noxagol]

At a busy intersection round here where I live, they replaced a 4 way traffic light with a round-a-bout and it was a massive improvement. Coming from one direction they also had enough room to have a dedicated right turn that bypasses the round-a-bout.

[TheViper]

Roundabouts work well if the traffic pattern fits the profile. If the traffic pattern is too high, you'll increase time for 1 street and decrease time for the other..usually in great proportions.

[mczerone]

Roundabouts work well if the traffic pattern fits the profile. If the traffic pattern is too high, you'll increase time for 1 street and decrease time for the other..usually in great proportions.

All the more reason to have varied, competing road companies.

There are safety concerns behind the rise in roundabouts, but I think the bigger driving factor is for union make-work programs. There have been many intersections transformed in Michigan recently, and some were legitimately dangerous or cumbersome, but the lure of tearing out a piece of road and replacing it with a higher cost building project was too great for local municipalities to ignore, especially by those getting federal reimbursements for infrastructure improvements.

If the state hadn't already been manipulating the road market, those intersections that truly need roundabouts probably would have already had them, and those which need 4-way stops or timed/programmed lights wouldn't be getting them. But hey, who cares if the govt does something that is hurtful to our well being, private companies can't build roads, right? :rolleyes:

[dannno]

I like them. Statistically, they're safer and faster than ordinary intersections.

Agreed.

[dannno]

The roundabouts here all have stop signs before you enter the roundabouts. So kind of pointless.
So from a complete stop you have to floor it to 30 so you don't get smacked by the cars on the roundabout.
I really don't like them.

Ya they're supposed to be yield signs..

[zadrock]

Been living (and driving) in London for almost a year now. The roundabouts are awesome. But just about everything else about driving in Britain sucks big time.