Just watched an episode of Mythbusters last night. It was about traffic.

Is it really true that you do not have roundabouts in America? Sheesh no wonder youtube is half filled with T-bone crash cam footage of ignorant cagers driving right under a big rig coming at them full bore...

 

True, for the most part. There are a few that have popped up in recent years around here but nothing like in Europe.

 

While they are very useful and much safer, roundabouts when they exist here usually only serve to confuse the vast majority of the drivers as they aren't used to them.

 

We have one at the entrance to our subdivision but they are not very common where I live. From what I've observed it seems that many people do not know how to use them properly.

I travel to France every 4 years and I think they have more roundabouts than stop signs. I think they're great.

 

theyre slowly gaining popularity, but as others have said, people are somehow clueless on how to use them. while i was in high school they put one in right at the edge of town, i used it almost daily, cant count how many times i saw someone turn left into it. i guess signs and curbs that tell you the already obvious direction of travel arent enough!

 

The old small town I lived in had one. It was dangerous, IMO, because the main road was very popular and the intersecting road wasn't. So, most people would enter without even looking because they assumed most people were going straight.

 

We have them everywhere. Everyone knows how to use them and they really improve the flow of traffic and really reduce the incidence of T bone accidents.
When the roads are quiet the bigger ones are great for improving your cornering skills.....

 

There actually seems to be a website dedicated to them:

RoundaboutsUSA | Welcome

Although we`re not as bonkers about them as the French and the Brits there is a lot of them here too. I didn`t keep count but if I`d have to estimate I drove through at least six different roundabouts during my day at work, some of them several times over. I`ve seen some getting constructed to previously dangerous crossroads that have since become safer, one site is actually happening along my current commute. On some occasions they are built to hinder juvenile racing in the suburbs. I for one have never ever seen anyone drive the wrong way in a roundabout, but from a trucker`s point of view they sometimes can be infuriating due to the recently widespread habit of not using the turning indicators amongst the car drivers. I`m entering the roundabout and see a car approaching from the left, close enough that if it decides to go straight or make a left turn I can`t make it from in front of it so I`m forced to stop, once again only to see that the rectum of a driver has decided to make a blinkless exit to his right and I`m left, yet again, trying to get the truck moving from the icy uphill I just had to make myself get stuck at. But dear oh dear if I ONCE decide to plow through and the cager has to lift his foot from the throttle I`m the douche of the century and get a light and horn show that shadows new year`s eve!

Started to turn into a bit of a rant there...

I`m not per se for, or against the circles, most of the time they make my life easier as a trucker, specially if they are built near big industrial areas where there is heavy semi trailer traffic they actually build the curb stones so that a truck can drive almost straight through to the predominant direction. The really big ones are the most fun if you happen to be on the move late on a winter night when there`s no other cars to be seen. Yes they are great for improving your cornering skills... but have you ever seen a lorry truck drift around one? When you keep in mind that the slide doesn`t stop when you ease off the throttle it`s safer and much easier than you might think. Not that I`ve ever tried it

So the general knowledge is at a fair level here, most of the difficulties around them usually comes from some drivers being unsure who has the right of way stopping in the circle which can sometimes create some pretty quick situations, and the general lack of using the turning indicators. How hard it is to flip the daym stalk with your finger?!!!

Before someone else beats me to it I have to take advantage of the situation to introduce to you the pinnacle of engineering:

Magic Roundabout (Swindon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also known as the roundabout from hell, consisting of one big roundabout, consisting of five small roundabouts!!!





...and of course, the mandatory meme:

 

It looks like the road planner was smoking pot when he designed that !
Remind me NEVER to go near that thing.............
And yes Matti, I've actually been in a rig when it slipped on ice but only as a passenger.
I can remember my butt grabbing a big bite of seat.....
BTW did you see your title has changed a little.........progress is a fine thing !

 

Plenty up here in the North East US keeping auto body shops extremely busy.
Nobody yields to those already going around it, a total clusterf..... most days.