round-abouts

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eakers

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
12,169
2
0
recently, the city i live in and a city near by have installed some round-abouts. at first i was skeptical and thought that people would get confused and lots of accidents would happen but now that i have tried them out serveral times i have to say that they are so awesome! like a million times better than a four way stop.

anyways, i thought this was mostly a british thing so i was wondering if any of you have round abouts in your cities and if you like them.
 
Snapster

Snapster

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2001
3,916
0
0
I have them, but then I am a Brit. They are good, except in very heavy traffic.
 
A

Aquaman

Lifer
Dec 17, 1999
25,054
13
0
Originally posted by: eakers
recently, the city i live in and a city near by have installed some round-abouts. at first i was skeptical and thought that people would get confused and lots of accidents would happen but now that i have tried them out serveral times i have to say that they are so awesome! like a million times better than a four way stop.

anyways, i thought this was mostly a british thing so i was wondering if any of you have round abouts in your cities and if you like them.
Click to expand...

yes......... for the past 3-4 years .........round abouts have been installed.

They are ok.

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<<<<<<< where it is snowing and people can't drive in it :p
 
lozina

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,711
8
81
i hate 'em

people can't stay in their lane on regular turn so I can't imagine how they handle a big circle
 
P

PanzerIV

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2002
6,875
1
0
We have one that I avoid when I can. Fortunatley it's not in my part of town and I rarely encounter it.
 
Gibson486

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
i hate them. People always have to stay in the inner part of the round about, then switch quickly to the outer lane to catch an exit.
 
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torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
OK, someone explain to me how the magic roundabout works. I saw some pictures (linked from the wiki article above) but after staring at it for 3-4 minutes still have no clue how it works.
 
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elektrolokomotive

Golden Member
Jan 14, 2004
1,637
0
0
I haven't seen any where I live (Seattle area), but I'm pretty new to this area. I've seen quite a few of them when I drive in Europe and I think they're great! Except in England/Ireland cuz you have to think kind of backwards about them.





 
Ryan

Ryan

Lifer
Oct 31, 2000
27,519
2
81
We have IDIOTS who STOP in the middle of them - ARG, I hate MOFOs like that. If you're in the fscking circle, you have the right of way!! Also, I hate people who stop before entering - the sign says yield, not stop you dumbass!!!!!!!!!

[/road rage]
 
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GigaCluster

Golden Member
Aug 12, 2001
1,762
0
0
Originally posted by: torpid
OK, someone explain to me how the magic roundabout works. I saw some pictures (linked from the wiki article above) but after staring at it for 3-4 minutes still have no clue how it works.
Click to expand...

It's confusing since the picture portrays a British roundabout, but think of a conveyor belt. It's cycling neverendingly. If you want to get from point A to point B, you wait your turn to get on (yield to cars already on the roundabout), then hop on. Then you let yourself be carried (drive with the other cars in a circle, forever if you want), and when you're nearing point B, hop off.
 
K

KarenMarie

Elite Member
Sep 20, 2003
14,372
6
81
There is a big one in the center of town in the town next to me... After 8yrs of living in the UK, it frustrates me. I would love it, but they use it backwards...

All the traffic already on the roundabout stops and gives way to traffic approaching the roundabout...

morons.
 
Freejack2

Freejack2

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2000
7,751
8
91
Traffic circles (roundabouts) are great. They save time and are waay better than a stoplight.
 
T

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
Originally posted by: GigaCluster
Originally posted by: torpid
OK, someone explain to me how the magic roundabout works. I saw some pictures (linked from the wiki article above) but after staring at it for 3-4 minutes still have no clue how it works.
Click to expand...

It's confusing since the picture portrays a British roundabout, but think of a conveyor belt. It's cycling neverendingly. If you want to get from point A to point B, you wait your turn to get on (yield to cars already on the roundabout), then hop on. Then you let yourself be carried (drive with the other cars in a circle, forever if you want), and when you're nearing point B, hop off.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand how a normal roundabout works. But I have no idea how The Magic Roundabout works.
 
Y

Yossarian

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
18,010
1
81
they're called "rotaries" in Massachusetts.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!!

I can't get left!!!
 
J

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
0
According to Wikipedia we have traffic circles in NJ, not roundabouts...I like traffic circles. They would be great if it wasn't for Pennsies and New Yorkers screwing up the motion.
 
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dderidex

Platinum Member
Mar 13, 2001
2,732
0
0
Bend, OR has roundabouts.

Bend has a LOT of roundabouts.

I am...indifferent. During low to medium traffic times, they are rather nice. During busy traffic times....well, they suck. A steady stream of traffic coming in on, say, the 3/4 road and going out on the 1/4 road (viewed from the top, coming in on the left road, circling nearly all the way around and exitting the top) will completely stop up incoming traffic on the other three directions quite nicely.

Bigger problems come in the winter time. Roundabouts tend to be smallish circles, to prevent cars from speeding up inside them (hard to speed up in a tight turn). Problem is that when snow starts piling up in the center of it, you suddenly can't see around it. And due to the nature of the turn (it's tight), you don't even come close to having enough advance warning of incoming traffic. Getting on a roundabout in the winter is kinda rough. Hold you breath, cross your fingers, and punch it.

Originally posted by: Vortex22
None here in FL. Ive' never seen or used one.
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Good grief, you can only hope to the gods none ever get put INTO Florida. Seniors are dangerous enough on the roads, put them on a roundabout....*shudders*
 
Vic

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: FoBoT
they are good when people know how to use them properly
Click to expand...
Bingo. They're usually faster than conventional intersections but the problem is the idiot drivers who can't figure them out.
 
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EyeMWing

Banned
Jun 13, 2003
15,670
1
0
The MVA here in Maryland calls them traffic circles (but they are indeed roundabouts, because traffic already in the circle has the right of way, instead of traffic entering them)

Anyway, I like them for smaller vehicles. They're a pain in the butt once you get a bus or truck in there, though. And when the they're new, nobody knows wtf is going on and hell breaks loose until every local has made a few trips through it. At any rate, when implemented properly, they take intersections that normally take 5 minutes to get through and turn them into 30 second intervals. Such is the case with one local roundabout next to a rather massive mall, a university campus and like two hospitals. On the other hand, they put one in here for a 4-way stop sign... Slowed things down significantly.
 
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