I think I've worked out why Americans don't like roundabouts. Your rules are screwed up - at a 4 way stop, you give way to your right, and on a roundabout you give way to your left. No wonder people get mixed up.
IDK where you get the idea that you give way to your left on a roundabout. I used to think the law was that those in the traffic circle had the right of way. But the law is that who has the right of way depends on the local traffic flow and what is customary. That's probably why we are getting rid of them.
Here we spent many millions changing a local traffic circle into a roundabout. What's up with that? The changes were intended to improve and speed up the traffic flow. It didn't do anything, possibly made it worse.
Here is what the Connecticut driver's manual says: "Entering traffic must yield the right-of-way to circulating traffic. Each road approaching them is marked with a yield sign and may also have yield line markings on the pavement"
We spent a few weeks in New Zealand and they have roundabouts everywhere. Out in the countryside and in small towns they work fine. Once you get into Auckland it simply adds an extra level of congestion. As soon as you have a downstream slowdown to block the outflow, it gridlocks. Nobody can get out so nobody can get in. Even if you are traveling in a lightly traveled direction you are stuck. (essentially the "box is blocked") DC is built around traffic circles and they all need lights to manage the traffic. The bigger ones have tunnels under them to bypass the circle completely.
Here they work OK. No gridlock, but it can take quite awhile to get through a circle if you're not in the mainflow, ie you want to get three quarters around to exit. At time, you get into the circle, into the holding spot, but can't get out because the highway traffic is continuous, without breaks. I've seen some places that have a stop light in the highway just before the circles that periodically stops traffic so the circle can clear. But they are rare. For the most part, they are disappearing here, taken out as improvements are made. Only two left here now, compared to six or so decades ago.
Lucky you. We're converting a boatload of 4-way stops and traffic lights to roundabouts.
Actually, there's one where I hear it made flow better, especially a rush hour. I had my doubts about its location, as the senior citizens' center is on that corner.
The real problem with them in America is that they require drivers to be attentive and courteous.
Cindy Hamilton
On Sun, 04 Nov 2018 17:48:33 -0000, Each road approaching them is marked with a yield sign and may also have
Exactly, so like I said, give way to the left.
No problem if people use their gas pedal more vigorously, and/or leave gaps when they can see another road is congested.
What's the difference between a traffic circle and a roundabout? I thought "traffic circle" was the American word for roundabout, like "sidewalk" for pavement.
Because you do. Technically it's "give way to those already on it", which amounts to the same thing, as they always come from the left.
Mixing lights and roundabouts causes confusion and accidents. Especially when they actually put the lights in the middle of the bloody thing, not just at the entrances!
I doubt that is it at all. There are not that many people here who know or at least honor the yield to the car on the right. If you asked .most Americans they would say "first in first out. The reality is the impatient one goes first and if you snooze you lose. Our experience here is usually because they chose intersections doomed to failure to test the roundabout concept. When you have 3 lanes in from 4 directions and they are bumper to bumper at the times when the intersection is a problem, a roundabout only makes it worse.
This is just a stop light that halts highway traffic a hundred feet or so BEFORE the circle. Nothing confusing about that, no more so than any other stop light.
In my experience, a traffic circle is very large, and was part of the original road design, like one in Tallmadge OH at the intersection of 4 highways. Roundabouts tend to be converted 4-way stops/lights, and are generally small.
Then there are the really huge circles in Europe with parks and monuments in the center.
BTW, the one in OH has a church and old City Hall in center.
Several million dollars, apparently. That's what it cost to change a circle to a roundabout. Like I said, the changes were minor and it didn't improve the flow. And if you saw the new roundabout and were used to calling them traffic circles, like we do here, you'd say it's a traffic circle. Seriously, I think they said something about roundabouts having more graceful entrances and exits or some such nonsense.
Wow, 3 lanes? Here the problem I described is with a highway that has two in each direction. If you want the exit from the circle on the other side, ie 270 deg from where you're entering, you get stuck in the circle, waiting for a pause in traffic from the opposite direction. And only a couple cars can sit there off the flow. After that, people wanting to make that exit, can't. They have the choice of blocking traffic so the highway is screwed or giving up and continuing on. Around here everyone must keep driving and give up, because we don't have the grid lock thing. That's why they have lights at some of them, but not here. The lights give a brief pause in the busy highway traffic so the circle can clear.
Yes those are fine, but where we get problems here is while you're going round the roundabout, you encounter a traffic light on red (which can be hard to see as you're going round a tight bend and sometimes suddenly get the sun in your eye). Also I tend to expect a roundabout to only require me to wait when entering it, not while on it.
On Sun, 04 Nov 2018 18:51:40 -0000,
Yeah we have that shit here with "dual carriageway" and "motorway". Loads of money poured into it as a Motorway needs to have certain angles on bends, and junctions where you don't have to come to a stop and no lay-bys on the side and stuff. They both work the same, they both have the same speed limit, they just change the name on the map and spend a fortune on tarmac. The only significant differences are: no bicycles, no stopping at the side.
That's insane that you ever have to stop ON the circle. I thought you'd wait to get on, then simply go round to the exit and leave? That way the circle is always flowing smoothly. The only queues are to enter it.
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