The Pros & Cons of Traffic Circles (1 Viewer)

[Grant B]

Just got a ballot to vote on putting traffic circles all down our street. Since the street was turned into a bike path, most people on bikes ignore the 4 way stops so the city came up with traffic circles instead of citing people.
Personally I love roundabouts ever since I got the hang of them in England but some people just don't know what to do when they encounter them.
The funniest thing I saw was a tired trucker who just drove straight over the traffic circle like it didn't exist.
Still haven't figured out how to vote so I thought I'd throw it out here and see how others feel about them
Grant

 

[Paul.G]

We recently got one in my small town. The town sent an 'instruction manual' out to all of the residents to tell us the proper way to use the traffic circle I couldn't believe it, it's not that hard! I think they are fine, but I don't see how they are any more safe than just a 4-way stop or a intersection with a stop light.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, I'm a pedestrian, and my experience with traffic circles/roundabouts is "I never get to cross the street".

 

[Pamela]

I encountered my first traffic circle this past year. They put one down on Los Robles, in Pasadena. It threw me for a loop (no pun intended). I've used it several times and I'm not crazy about them, although if I used them regularly, I suppose they might not be so bad.

 

[John Watson]

They're like crop circles - alien jokes.

Rat's like wheels tho

 

[Michael Pineo]

They seem to be very common around here. The only problem I have seen is that some people just don't understand how to use them. Every one I have seen has a huge sign at every entrance that says "Cars going around the rotary have the right of way", but that is apparently too vague as most people will just come flying right into the rotary, regardless of who has the right of way.

I guess the only other problem would be that in The States, the rules governing them are different from state to state. So some states give the right of way to the people entering the rotary instead of the people already on it. I've never understood how that could work, but it might just be that I am used to it the other way.

MikeP

 

[Joe Szott]

I love the idea, got used to them in England too. Saves a traffic light that can go wonko on you and at 3 AM there is no waiting at a red light. Vote for it!

 

[RobertR]

We have one in Long Beach and I've never had a problem with it. Just yield to traffic in the circle.

 

[Mike Lenthol]

Are they just practicing democracy by voting?

Roundabouts/circles are far better than intersections literally in every way. For the driver: safer, quicker, less fuel consumption. For the township:

 

[Bob_Bo]

Rotaries, as we refer to them, are great at handling large amounts of traffic without much incidence.

However, the drawbacks are that if any of the main exits gets bottlenecked. . . as in a school, on-ramp, etc. then the whole traffic pattern for the rotary is affected.

As was mentioned earlier, rotaries are very pedestrian unfriendly too.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

as the guys from mass said, they seem to be all over the place here. i dont mind them, i just hate when people fly into the rotary as if they have the right of way. one of the bigger rotaries is at the sagamore bridge, one of the bridges that crosses the cape cod canal. they have been toying with the idea of getting rid of it, but i dont know that anything else would be much better. gotta love the scene in european vacation where chevy chase cant get out of the rotary. 'look kids...forget it!'

CJ

 

[Grant B]

Except for people who stop and can't figure out what to do, that happens more often than not

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Except that a lot of the busier or larger roundabouts over here now have lights on them as well. They're usually placed for good reason but the lights themselves can cause big tailbacks.

Roundabouts are everywhere in the UK. Sometimes they work, sometimes they're a pain in arse. Multi-lane ones are the worst because it always seems you're in the wrong position for the exit.

 

[Grant B]

There was one between Glasgow and Edinbourgh that was so scary I just closed my eyes and gunned it.... Thank God I had a fast car....

 

[Paul_Sjordal]

Roundabouts are fine as long as traffic is low.

 

[Walt N]

The nice thing about roundabouts is that you can't get centerpunched by a drunk running a red light or have someone turn left in front of you at a near head-on angle. Collisions will happen, but they won't have as much impact or potential for mayhem.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

There's a really horrific one in Swindon which is a great big roundabout with six or seven smaller ones hanging off it's edges. It looks like one of those Mandlebrot fractal images from years ago.

 

[Joseph S]

I find them very useful. The only issues I have found are
1)drivers not knowing what to do and the
2) Sagamore bridge rotary in Plymouth/Bourne, MA which really seems to only serve the Friendly's, McDonalds, Christmas Tree Shop, and Dunkin Donuts stores. They really need to make an off ramp further down the road rather than halt all traffic.

 

[BrianB]

This is the roundabout that Rob's talking about, I believe:

 

[Philip_T]

Good Lord BrianB, that looks part spiro giro, part parking lot and part crop circles. I would have to break the mens rulebook and get out to ask directions just to get through that thing.