Does America have round-abouts?

[PorkChopXpress]

There aren't many where I live (couple of small ones to reduce street racing, I think), but there are a lot in the country.

 

[Gardenia]

I have to go through 7 roundabouts just in the 4 minute drive to the other side of town. I think my (extremely) small hometown has some 20 roundabouts alltogether
My theory: They are made to confuse the Germans, should they choose to invade again.
Unfortunately, they look like bulls-eyes from the sky (from a bomber plane, for instance), and I feel that would just encourage them to do what they did last time, and level the town.

 

[Nukeforyou]

my town installed one.. and its stupid as F**K .. just do a 4 way intersection with lights..

 

[C95J]

Does Europe have any cloverleaf roadways? You know, like this?

Spoiler: Big pic

not in England, but after looking at it for about half a minute it doesn't seem much more difficult to use than a roundabout, basically just going up on ramp and onto another road I guess.

Correct me if I am wrong.

And for a truly exciting interchange, how about this little number in Dallas, TX:

Spoiler: Massive pic

okay this one just scares me...

 

[dex-dex]

In Canada is it more rare to find them. I have encountered about ten at the most in my life time. clover leafs are more common. The reason why the states and Canada don't have as many as the UK or other european countries is space. we have a lot more land to spread out roads. Also we have not been a country for as long as others. When they were just starting out, they saw tons of land and were just giving it away to anyone who came.

 

[cahtush]

they are common is sweden, we call em "rondell"

 

[Gahars]

Yeah, there's actually one in my neighborhood. Generally, however, they are incredibly rare.

 

[Knusper]

I've always wondered about this since seeing that Simpsons episode, but some Americans I know say they do have them. What I'm wondering is how else do you handle massive junctions?

 

[Guffe]

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?

Yes we have those, so you can get from the Motorway to smaller roads and back to the other side in case you missed an intersection. At least here in Finland, and if we got them everyone else also probably got them

 

[T3hMonk3y]

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.

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.

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.

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'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.

I think this has to be posted

Might have got my tags wrong there buts thats spagetti junction in brimingham england. its scary.

 

[Chris^^]

I saw 1 last time I was in America, it was only about 6ft across as well =P

 

[Ironic Pirate]

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.

You're from upstate NY? Cool, that's the first internet person I've met that lives where I do. Granted, Upstate NY describes a decently sized area, but still.

 

[HappyNoodleBot]

Just sticking this here

http://xkcd.com/253/

love xkcd

 

[Ethylene Glycol]

There's one right up the road a ways from my apartment. I was more confused by the sign warning people it was there than by the actual roundabout.

 

[Voodoomancer]

Plenty of 'em in Iceland. And I don't get what's so confusing about them.

One thing though: People who don't signal when exiting deserve nothing good -,-

 

[Pinguin]

Here in the UK we have loads. Including, of course, Swindon's spectacular "Magic Roundabout":
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Magic+Roundabout,+Swindon&sll=51.557009,-1.781845&sspn=0.13832,0.246162&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=The+Magic+Roundabout,+Swindon+SN1+2,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.562792,-1.771473&spn=0.00108,0.001923&t=h&z=19

 

[Squarez]

It's a shame that they're not common in the States so people don't know how to use them. I've grown up my entire life with roundabouts and after having only been driving a year and a half I must have gone over hundreds of them. They're a really good idea, but you really need to have been taught properly in how to use them (as evidenced in my first experience on the road, on a scooter and nearly killing myself by cutting lanes on one).

 

[Rickyvantof]

They're all over the place. Netherlands.

 

[TheWwwizard]

I've seen one near where I used to live.

 

[Hubbe]

Roundabouts are a nifty invention... they reduce the number of left hand turns on a route.

This leads to safer traffic. Which leads to fewer deaths. WIN+WIN =