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I'm guessing, but I would wager roundabouts are cheaper to implement than the other traffic flow solutions - the authorities like to talk about safety, improved traffic flow etc. I'm now back in England and actually kept the flyer I received to show to the locals here - I have rarely seen such laughter upon reading a pamphlet. My first reaction was, 'But almost nobody would have taken a driving test that would include roundabout protocol' - this was painfully obvious when I saw the 'seat of the pants' approach many took to coming upon a roundabout. The interesting thing for me was that I had been in England since 2000 and only returned back to my native Canada in 2010 to suddenly see roundabouts as part of the roadways. You can see the website it pointed to here:

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On the point of education, I received a flyer in the mail at the beginning of the year providing instructions on how to properly use a roundabout. Canada is also adopting the roundabout in some areas and the size is a real issue as many are so small that you might as well just put a 4-way stop or traffic lights in because the traffic just backs up in all four directions anyway - the roundabout is too small to allow the traffic to keep flowing and merging.

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Tell it on the radio, in TV spots and so on.Įxactly. Two factors are important: Build them large enough, so traffic flowing in has a chance to anticipate an open spot. To be fair, that's probably more because that's what I started with, but still, to hear yanks talk about them, you'd think they were the spawn of Satan or something. Oh and for the record, I far prefer roundabouts to 4-way intersections. As someone who's lived in Rome, I really mean that. It does explain a lot about the (apallingly-bad) standards of driving out here though. Apparently that's all you need to drive one of the massive honking SUV's they have out here at 100^W 65(hah!) mph on the freeway. One question was 'what does this sign mean?'. I had already passed the 'written' part of the test (really, multiple choice. In the US, I turned right out of the DMV onto a 30mph road, turned first right, turned first right, turned first right, turned first right, and then turned back into the DMV. I had to do a hill start, 3 point turn, right-hand reverse, parallel parking, different speeds of driving, turning out of a blind intersection, roundabouts, emergency stop, and probably more that I don't remember. Yes, well the UK driving test is actually worth something.

Solution C depends on Solution A, so we're doubly screwed. Solution B requires expropriation to make room, and often leads to complicated entry/exit ramps, and all that costs a shitload of money. Solution A requires vastly improved public transit, for which no city official wants to shoulder the cost, or more telework which employers are still reluctant to undertake. less concentration in commercial and industrial sectors There are, fundamentally, three solutions to traffic, and nobody wants to implement them:Ĭ.

If these get backed up, so does the roundabout. The heavy traffic scenario is where city planners fail hard, because they too easily forget that roundabouts still shuffle the same number of vehicles into the same congested streets.

In either case, you can't get in because everyone is bumper-to-bumper.

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They take longer for two main reasons: in heavy traffic, a full roundabout is either constantly moving, or dead stopped like a parking lot. It's a tradeoff, I guess, but overall I'd rather drive in a straight line :)ĭISCLAIMER: I am not a city engineer, but I've spent far too much spare time researching these issues. Plus, some places make a rotary out of a 5-way intersection which can be incredibly confusing. You can sit there for a lot longer than you would at a red light. Secondly, if I am not sure whether to turn or not, I can just take another spin around the circle until I see the street sign I'm looking for (assuming there is one, not a given on some of the sign-challenged Northeast roads).īut I loathe rotaries when there's a lot of traffic. I like rotaries for two reasons: when there's no traffic, it's nicer than having to stop at an arbitrary red light and wait for a mandatory 2 minutes while the lights cycle.

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This article from an insurance periodical suggests that it's aggressive drivers who are making rotaries more dangerous. Roundabouts (or rotaries, or traffic circles, as they're known in parts of the U.S.) induce confusion and fear in many drivers, although they can be useful at times.

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