roundabout VS 4-way

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destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Here's one down the street from where I used to live. This is one of the very small ones.

and another

and another nother

What a pointless roundabout. All they did was take a standard small intersection, construct a circular in the middle, and called it a day.
Especially with the stop-sign, but even without, it's really still just a one-car intersection, perhaps two if two on opposite sides of the same road are both heading straight.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
73,481
35,158
136
What a pointless roundabout. All they did was take a standard small intersection, construct a circular in the middle, and called it a day.
Especially with the stop-sign, but even without, it's really still just a one-car intersection, perhaps two if two on opposite sides of the same road are both heading straight.
There are lots of roundabouts in England even smaller than that, literally a circle the size of a trashcan lid painted in the center of the intersection. But the English ones work because people know what they are supposed to do (even if they do it in the wrong direction).
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
I was thinking that when watching that mythbuster video. Many (if not all) of the "traffic circles" have stop signs in front of them, thus negating their efficiency. Stupid Americans. :D

Not even nearly. I've been through many and never seen or heard of one with stop signs until this thread.
 

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
Love roundabouts. As stated before, there are morons that do not know how to use them.

Hate them. One of the major reasons I hate them is because people don't know how to use them which increases the proabability that if I use one, someone will hit me.
1. Anyone in the roundabout has the right of way
2. You should yield to anyone in the roundabout who would hit you if you attempted to enter at that moment.
3. Yield signs at a roundabout are worthless. If its open, you go, if there are cars, you have to stop as the enter lane to most roundabouts near me is one car length.
4. The level of apprehension and anxiety at roundabouts is much greater than a 4 way stop. At a 4 way stop, you know 99% of the people are going to stop and will do so. At a roundabout, its a crapshoot if people will yield, barrell through, not knowing the rules, or just otherwise curl into a fetal position and hold up traffic.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Hate them. One of the major reasons I hate them is because people don't know how to use them which increases the proabability that if I use one, someone will hit me.
1. Anyone in the roundabout has the right of way
2. You should yield to anyone in the roundabout who would hit you if you attempted to enter at that moment.
3. Yield signs at a roundabout are worthless. If its open, you go, if there are cars, you have to stop as the enter lane to most roundabouts near me is one car length.
4. The level of apprehension and anxiety at roundabouts is much greater than a 4 way stop. At a 4 way stop, you know 99% of the people are going to stop and will do so. At a roundabout, its a crapshoot if people will yield, barrell through, not knowing the rules, or just otherwise curl into a fetal position and hold up traffic.
Do you experience performance anxiety at roundabouts?
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
15,142
10,043
136
Do you have "Magic Roundabouts" in the US? I'm sure someone mentioned once that there are some over there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)


Swindon-Magic-Roundabout.svg
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
15,142
10,043
136
Roundabouts can be quite stressful to negotiate on a bicycle, I know that much.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,611
3,833
126
They built roundabouts but then put stop signs all around.

I've seen that happen in places where the traffic is too heavy or too one sided for the round about to work

Lots of them in my neighborhood and I wish they would remove them.

People are idiots and do NOT understand what yield means. There's even a fucking DRAWING below the yield sign with instructions.

Some interpretations I've seen
a) Always come to a complete stop
b) Drive 30+mph through the round-a-bout without regard for anyone or anything near or around the intersection
c) Enter round-a-bout having the right of way, then stop in the middle because someone approached from the side
d) Turn left by going clockwise around the round-a-bout 90 degrees

God - they put in a new one recently and its a giant clusterfuck because no one knows what the fuck to do and its in a very busy intersection. Sooo many people stop in the middle or just don't go at all. I think it should be a basic drivers test. Make someone drive a round about and if they fail revoke their driver's license forever :mad:

I know how they're supposed to work but I think most American drivers are too stupid\lazy to figure them out
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
Do you experience performance anxiety at roundabouts?

I did less than 24 hours ago and I'm always the first to honk at an idiot who treats it like a 4-way stop (If we don't teach them, they'll never learn). Basically, some asshole was coming full-speed from the left and forced me to stop even though I arrived first and was also going fast. Made me look like an idiot but I wasn't about to pull in at the same time as him even if he wasn't in the circle yet.

This was a pretty big circle but if these circles weren't nearly as small as they usually are then things would work better.

*gets into round about* OH SHIT THAT WAS SCARY I BETTER STOP *slams on break*

Brake.
 

Murloc

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2008
5,382
65
91
4-way intersections have gone extinct here except for the inner parts of cities with a grid structure (where they are made less annoying by making some streets one-way only) and residential 30 km/h areas, where you can hardly pass cars coming from the other direction and they're meant as links between houses and streets you actually travel on, in these you just have to yield to traffic coming from the right, i.e. default behaviour, it's not a problem because there are rarely any cars on these streets.

Stop signs when entering a roundabout are stupid and negate the usefulness of it.

The only time when roundabouts can actually be worse than the previous solution, is when the exits are too close to each other and it's too small, because it forces people to slow down.
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
At least my sentence construction is better than yours

Comprehension. I was saying:
The circle it happened at was large.
Circles are usually too small.
I acknowledge the seeming contradiction.
There would be fewer issues if they were all large.

I will add that they are usually too small because they are crammed into the space that was once a 4-way stop.

The seeming contradiction is precisely what I acknowledged it. It seems that I have to refuse to acknowledge it to make you happy. Here you go:

"This was a pretty big circle but if these circles weren't nearly as small as they usually are then things would work better."
 
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Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,611
3,833
126
Comprehension. I was saying:
The circle it happened at was large.
Circles are usually too small.
I acknowledge the seeming contradiction.
There would be fewer issues if they were all large.

I will add that they are usually too small because they are crammed into the space that was once a 4-way stop.

The seeming contradiction is precisely what I acknowledged it. It seems that I have to refuse to acknowledge it to make you happy. Here you go:

"This was a pretty big circle but if these circles weren't nearly as small as they usually are then things would work better."

You are making an incorrect assumption. Your statement neither makes me unhappy or happy. I was merely pointing out that in a post where you correct someone's spelling mistake online you also include a terribly written and awkward sentence