Does America have round-abouts?

[Falseprophet]

In Canada i've only seen 2 and both are in Edmonton. I don't like traffic circles (thats what we call it here) cause it usually most of the accidents happen here.

We have a traffic circle in Hamilton, Ontario. But I was out east last year and the Maritimes have them too, but they call them rotaries. Based on this thread it sounds like rotary is the Maritime/New England term, and it's traffic circle for the rest of the continent.

Though according to Wikipedia, a rotary/traffic circle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_circle] is not quite the same as a roundabout.

 

[Evilsanta]

I don't know about the US but here in Sweden we have plenty of them.

 

[JezebelinHell]

We have a roundabout close to where I live in Ohio and for the longest time it was set up to work the OPPOSITE of what they are supposed to. No one stood a chance on that circle. It was supposedly fixed a few years back but I am just in the habit of avoiding it. Even with it fixed I am certain that the people going around it are still clueless.

 

[Iggy Rufflebar]

on a side note but still slightly related, what the hell is up with the speed limits? 50 was the highest I saw in my time in Illinois, it's so frustratingly slow I don't know how they cope lol

We cope by promptly ignoring all posted speed limits. Here in Chicago we rarely go under 70 on the highways.
(you are remembering to account for MPH and not Km/H, yeah?)

well i'm currently suffering from a particularly nasty case of sleep deprivation so I doubt i'm doing the conversion correctly, regardless it felt really slow

i'll always remember the first time I went to Chicago, I saw lots of high end sports cars all of which were going horrifically slow with no real traffic around, in my country we've got idiots in their tiny European cars doing silly speed everywhere lol

 

[Halceon]

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

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?

Ayup! [http://goo.gl/maps/DseZ]

Also, here [http://goo.gl/maps/FBdc]'s my favourite case of roundabouts.

 

[Kair]

Roundabouts are usually very annoying cause one road is usually much more travelled than the other so when you're on that road it's like having to slow down for nothing.

Actually, with traffic lights you would have to stop and wait because the other road had many more vehicles passing through.

 

[Roperius]

I made the embarrassing assumption that America was without the roundabouts when I met my new housemates in September. Red-faced much?

 

[Towels]

I have a couple near the suburban neighborhood my parents live in, and in a small office park down the street. I think its silly though because Roundabouts only seem to be useful in high-traffic intersections, and neither of these places see much of any traffic. Its just a fanciful, flashy waste of money and space where I live.

 

[Zenode]

Whats with Americans giving things retarded names.....its a roundabout.

A rotary (in the context of driving) sounds like something that's totally reta......oh wait your all complaining about how no one knows how to use them, makes sense now

 

[DomM]

If you think roundabouts are bad, look at this:



Yes, it's a roundabout of roundabouts. And the only possible reason for going to Swindon.

 

[Nimcha]

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

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?

Yep, we have a few of those in the Netherlands. Then again we only have a few major highways.

 

[Aur0ra145]

Yes, my town has 3, they are in the middle of no where, and all three are on the road to the lake's dam. It's annoying as fuck to drive around them, namely because it's generally just two roads going into them.

 

[Toriver]

Alright, I get it. Roundabouts in the US are not an east coast thing. I honestly didn't know exactly where they were so I went with the post earlier than mine that commented on them being on the east coast and not the west. I am very sorry for being wrong. Please stop quoting me with other locations.

 

[The Hero Killer]

I'm from the Houston, Texas area and I've never seen one. And if I did I wouldnt know what to do.

 

[smithy_2045]

Single lane roundabouts are great. Double lane roundabouts scare me though. (Australia, btw)

 

[LuckyClover95]

Heh, I live in England and there's two within 10 minutes WALK from my house, it seems crazy some of you have only seen them once or twice

 

[Danny Ocean]

You call that a roundabout? P'fah!

This is a roundabout.

Spoiler

Magic Roundabout in Swindon. Voted 5th scariest junction in the UK.

In all seriousness though, this is the best kind of roundabout. [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=brunel+bus&sll=51.510158,-0.58749&sspn=0.005422,0.013647&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=51.510636,-0.594935&spn=0.001355,0.00545&z=18&iwloc=A] It looks hellish, but it's actually simpler than a regular one. You just get into your lane and stay in it, and you get around.

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?

A few, but our motorways don't tend to cross like that.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

We have a few here in my hometown. When they were proposed a lot of people got upset for no real reason, then the traffic accidents in those areas went down around 80% and that shut them up.

 

[cthulhumythos]

they are in here in cape cod. but here we call 'em rotary's.