Does America have round-abouts?
- Thread starter Jewrean
- Start date
In Massachusetts rotaries are vertical, spiral ramps. And more confusing than roundabouts. Also whenever someone from out of state comes here they say "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? A FUCKING MERRY GO ROUND? JUST LET ME OFF! (That's my uncle from Michigan, where all the drivers are nice and considerate.) Oh yeah and we have lots of RotariesXojins said:
I know of one nearby to where I live, but for the sake of not giving a damn about proper names, we just call it the Circle. It's always pretty clogged up traffic-wise.
EDIT: "Nearby where I live" meaning Upstate NY.
EDIT: "Nearby where I live" meaning Upstate NY.
Proper roundabouts are usually put in place of busy 4 way intersections. The majority of the time (providing people know how to use them) you rarely need to stop at all. A reduced speed is far more preferable then the chance of being stopped for 30+ seconds.New Troll said:
The way the two lanes should be set up is like this:
This allows both lanes to continue traveling straight as well as allowing traffic to turn off. Do not be afraid of them, they are far superior to a regular intersection given proper road planning.
I've never seen one like that here in Australia. Yes we do have busy highways cris-crossing one another and there are exits that join. I have seen the circular exits like that before but not in all four corners, usually just in the congested areas.FalloutJack said:We do and I've seen them, but now I want to ask a question.
Does Europe have any cloverleaf roadways? You know, like this?
I live on the West coast, there's a round-about not too far from my house. They're extremely rare, however.xmbts said:
Yep, they do have a few in various places... Florida for one, I'm led to believe, and conversely a few of the colder states. They seem rare, random, misunderstood and generally disliked however.
Hahaha.... oh if only that were true...
The above is what I try to do, and what's so far caused me to have a couple accidents, and a lot of brake-slamming wheel-wrenching horn-blaring near misses as I dodge the 'tards who just don't get it. The top two favourite tricks seem to be 1. skirting around the outside of the island*, without signalling, regardless of what exit they're taking, even if it's a functional U-turn (optional: don't signal right at any point, but signal left at some random point between "1 1/2 exits" and "negative five seconds" before they exit), 2. go as straight across as possible when going dead ahead, regardless of other traffic. That is, for a typical 2- or 3-lane approach, start in the left hand lane, try to kiss the "apex" of the centre mound as closely as possible, then exit in the left lane.
Given that driving standards and levels of operator intelligence seem to be notoriously lower in the colonies - and the preference for long straight "main streets" in old towns, rather than the "market square" or central fountain/green space common in europe, it doesn't surprise me that roundabouts / traffic circles / rotaries / gyratories / islands are a lot less common over there. Seen enough videos where people drive round them the wrong way, straight over the top, etc...
"Screw it, these people just can't be bothered to understand or learn anything different. Just put a set of lights in and be done with it. Make 'em right turn on red just in case."
It's a shame, they're a useful tool for a good number of conflicting traffic situations, as you never have to deal with oncoming or cross traffic. So long as you have half a clue how to merge and change lanes, and it's set up so that traffic entering yields to traffic already on the roundabout (and, hopefully, that exiting the system doesn't hit a gridlock-causing stopping point too soon after**) you're fine. Though once volumes build up too much, you're going to want lights, or flyovers, or... that most evil-seeming but bizarrely efficient of things... the signalised roundabout. Uhhhhhrrrgghhh...
And also a good tool for learning how to control skids and how to get the back end of a FWD machine to step out without going into a full-force spin.***
Though as a sort-of-newbie biker on a machine with pram-like tyres, and having suffered prangs at the hands of clueless dipsticks who wouldn't know an indicator stalk, wing mirror, or big arrow painted on the road if they suffered a vicious and sustained sexual assault at the hands of one whilst tied to a chair in a well-lit warehouse, and too many entry-road tailbacks caused by people who just don't know how to merge into a busy traffic stream**** my love for them is waning slightly.
* I'm a brummie, bite me. They're islands. What else do you wanna call joyous mounds of greenery rising up out of the sea of concrete and metal?
** Though this can, counterintuitively, sometimes be good in a signallised-island kind of way to allow traffic on the unaffected sections to finally enter the system safely, and opportunist types to weedle their way into/through the stopped parts with less risk.
*** Though I have recently been totally caught out by a patch of diesel on a big island on my commute, went into a proper no-hoper 4 wheel drift, and ended up sheepishly facing down about five solid minutes of other unhappy drivers doing about 40mph until I could extricate myself. Just glad I wasn't on the bike. Wouldn't mind so much, but I wasn't even on the island proper, but a feeder lane between two closely spaced roads. Doesn't pay to get complacent - a lesson we all need a reminder in occasionally.
**** Good judgement, throttle and - if in/on a manual - clutch control are key, along with a bit of chutzpah... skills which often seem lacking. However, if in doubt, looking for something resembling a gap then flooring it, closing your eyes and screaming will probably work about as well.
Jewrean said:In European countries and also here in my home country of Australia roundabouts are extremely common.
I was told that there are indeed roundabouts in America but are extremely uncommon. This was also shown in the Simpsons when they visited England and were completely clueless about a roundabout.
Roundabouts reduce traffic considerably by means of increasing throughput. I suppose my question is why aren't there many roundabouts in America? If you are not from America; are roundabouts common or uncommon?
A simple roundabout
Hahaha.... oh if only that were true...
The above is what I try to do, and what's so far caused me to have a couple accidents, and a lot of brake-slamming wheel-wrenching horn-blaring near misses as I dodge the 'tards who just don't get it. The top two favourite tricks seem to be 1. skirting around the outside of the island*, without signalling, regardless of what exit they're taking, even if it's a functional U-turn (optional: don't signal right at any point, but signal left at some random point between "1 1/2 exits" and "negative five seconds" before they exit), 2. go as straight across as possible when going dead ahead, regardless of other traffic. That is, for a typical 2- or 3-lane approach, start in the left hand lane, try to kiss the "apex" of the centre mound as closely as possible, then exit in the left lane.
Given that driving standards and levels of operator intelligence seem to be notoriously lower in the colonies - and the preference for long straight "main streets" in old towns, rather than the "market square" or central fountain/green space common in europe, it doesn't surprise me that roundabouts / traffic circles / rotaries / gyratories / islands are a lot less common over there. Seen enough videos where people drive round them the wrong way, straight over the top, etc...
"Screw it, these people just can't be bothered to understand or learn anything different. Just put a set of lights in and be done with it. Make 'em right turn on red just in case."
It's a shame, they're a useful tool for a good number of conflicting traffic situations, as you never have to deal with oncoming or cross traffic. So long as you have half a clue how to merge and change lanes, and it's set up so that traffic entering yields to traffic already on the roundabout (and, hopefully, that exiting the system doesn't hit a gridlock-causing stopping point too soon after**) you're fine. Though once volumes build up too much, you're going to want lights, or flyovers, or... that most evil-seeming but bizarrely efficient of things... the signalised roundabout. Uhhhhhrrrgghhh...
And also a good tool for learning how to control skids and how to get the back end of a FWD machine to step out without going into a full-force spin.***
Though as a sort-of-newbie biker on a machine with pram-like tyres, and having suffered prangs at the hands of clueless dipsticks who wouldn't know an indicator stalk, wing mirror, or big arrow painted on the road if they suffered a vicious and sustained sexual assault at the hands of one whilst tied to a chair in a well-lit warehouse, and too many entry-road tailbacks caused by people who just don't know how to merge into a busy traffic stream**** my love for them is waning slightly.
* I'm a brummie, bite me. They're islands. What else do you wanna call joyous mounds of greenery rising up out of the sea of concrete and metal?
** Though this can, counterintuitively, sometimes be good in a signallised-island kind of way to allow traffic on the unaffected sections to finally enter the system safely, and opportunist types to weedle their way into/through the stopped parts with less risk.
*** Though I have recently been totally caught out by a patch of diesel on a big island on my commute, went into a proper no-hoper 4 wheel drift, and ended up sheepishly facing down about five solid minutes of other unhappy drivers doing about 40mph until I could extricate myself. Just glad I wasn't on the bike. Wouldn't mind so much, but I wasn't even on the island proper, but a feeder lane between two closely spaced roads. Doesn't pay to get complacent - a lesson we all need a reminder in occasionally.
**** Good judgement, throttle and - if in/on a manual - clutch control are key, along with a bit of chutzpah... skills which often seem lacking. However, if in doubt, looking for something resembling a gap then flooring it, closing your eyes and screaming will probably work about as well.
Jewrean said:In European countries and also here in my home country of Australia roundabouts are extremely common.
I was told that there are indeed roundabouts in America but are extremely uncommon. This was also shown in the Simpsons when they visited England and were completely clueless about a roundabout.
Roundabouts reduce traffic considerably by means of increasing throughput. I suppose my question is why aren't there many roundabouts in America? If you are not from America; are roundabouts common or uncommon?
A simple roundabout
Sorry to quote two at a time but, yes. I live in the west and there is a roundabout two blocks away from me.xmbts said:
There are 2 roundabouts in my city that i know of, 1 was only built a couple years ago. I see the point of them, but yeah too many people are cluelees in them so it just becomes a pain in the ass.
Of course, many drivers here are idiotic no matter where they are.
Of course, many drivers here are idiotic no matter where they are.
Never seen one in Canada, although I know America has them. Never been to one, but they look confusing :/
It seems as if the general consensus of roundabouts in America is that yes they do exist but are severely misunderstood. As a result, regardless of the roundabouts strengths, a fear what we don't understand approach is taken. This is similar in other countries (because we all have clueless drivers).
Now whilst I do not wish to derail my own thread, I will bring up a similar issue. Is this why America (and a couple of other countries for that matter) refuse to use the Metric system? Although you are more than welcome to hate things you don't understand (it's human nature after all), I would like to point out that with proper understanding and education both roundabouts and the Metric system would be beneficial to your country.
Now this is by no means a 'hate' thread of any kind and I'm sure you're sick of foreigners telling you what's good for you (although every country does this, even America). This is purely for educational purposes.
I'll tell you why the Metric system trumps the archaic Imperial system:
http://www.metric4us.com/
The reason is simple, everything is divisible by 10. This makes converting measurements of any kind extremely simple by just jumping the decimal place left and right.
Those that still EXCLUSIVELY use the Imperial system
Now whilst I do not wish to derail my own thread, I will bring up a similar issue. Is this why America (and a couple of other countries for that matter) refuse to use the Metric system? Although you are more than welcome to hate things you don't understand (it's human nature after all), I would like to point out that with proper understanding and education both roundabouts and the Metric system would be beneficial to your country.
Now this is by no means a 'hate' thread of any kind and I'm sure you're sick of foreigners telling you what's good for you (although every country does this, even America). This is purely for educational purposes.
I'll tell you why the Metric system trumps the archaic Imperial system:
http://www.metric4us.com/
The reason is simple, everything is divisible by 10. This makes converting measurements of any kind extremely simple by just jumping the decimal place left and right.
Those that still EXCLUSIVELY use the Imperial system
Not much that I've seen, and there's only a few here in Singapore. I guess because traffic lights don't require any thought process to use.
The roundabouts I've been annoyed by in the U.S. would have been better with just stop signs on the infrequinted roads. No slow down or chance for 30+ second stop on much busier road. I fully understand how beneficiala roundabout would be, but they're very rarely taken advantage of in that way here. I feel they're almost put in just for looks, not practicality.Jewrean said:
I don't think so, British stores I've been to used feet and miles sometimes, and I'm pretty sure that Canada is also partially Metric and partially Imperial.Jewrean said:
Those that still use the Imperial system
Pure Imperial, maybe that map is correct, but other countries do use measurements like feet or pounds. And come on, Brits still use "stones".