Roundabouts: Pros & Cons and why usa hasn't embraced them

We've got this thing in New Orleans. Its called Lee Circle, it surrounds a statue of Lee. It probably could be a roundabout but it has red lights in it and a streetcar (trolley) runs through it with the cars.
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There is a small one here in Ft Worth near the TCU campus surrounded by bars & restaurants, the only thing you keep an eye out for is the drunken college students depending on the time of day.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=ft+worth,+tx&ie=UTF8&ll=32.699182,-97.359885&spn=0.002316,0.005021&t=h&z=18&iwloc=addr&om=1

 

Same here (Nebraska)

I have a friend in the NE (Maine) and he said they are getting rid of them for the same reasons mentioned.

 

In all my travels, I've never see any worse driving than what I experience in San Antonio, so it's not just a roundabout they are clueless on. It's obviously not ALL drivers in SA, but man, it sure is noticeable..

 

Dupont Circle has always been a disaster area owing to the lights, as you say but also because too many streets come into it. Another problem is that, because of the cosmopolitan nature of DC, few people understand the dynamics of circle round-abouts. They really only work well when two roads cross each other and people understand that person in the circle has right of way and those entering must yield.

 

I encountered one in Berkeley, CA a few years back. Cars were going both directions, I thought I had stumbled into a demolition derby.

 

Some of the New Jersey folk here probably know about the "circles" on Rt. 70. I hit 3 of them on the way from my house to my parents' house. As noted by many people on this thread, it seems that US drivers in general don't know how to yield or who has the right of way (despite the giant YIELD signs).

The first 2 roundabouts I hit on my trek to my parents go fairly smoothly most of the time. The problems:
1. People within the circle aren't sure whether they have the right of way or not. This causes some to slam on their brakes in the middle of the circle while everyone else is going full tilt.
2. People approaching the circle don't realize that they have to yield so they come barreling through the yield sign and cause near accidents all the time.
3. People who DO yield coming into the circle are often followed by people who don't understand that there's a yield. This leads to the following car flying by the yielding car on the right (or sometimes on the shoulder) and going full speed into the circle while making an illegal and dangerous pass.

The 3rd roundabout I hit has traffic lights. There's ALWAYS a backup at that one (Marlton circle).

 

Yeah, I live off Rt 70 by Ellisburg Circle, which used to be a roundabout but was converted back to traffic lights at some point, so it's not a circle anymore.

The Marlton circle is a nightmare. I bypass it for Rt 73 South, but for 70 East I gotta use it.

 

There are several in the Kansas City metro area, but you have to really pay attention since no one has a clue to which lane to be in when they exit

 

I think they need to have a sign with some simple instructions right before you enter the roundabout to help people understand.

Here is the Car and Driver article about a roundabout that was built in the US:
http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/12420/circular-logic-wins-out.html

The Police Chief is quoted at the end: "“You should have seen it before,” the chief said. “With stoplights and stop signs, the traffic would back up along the exits and onto the freeway. You could wait through three or four stoplight cycles. But now the longest delay I’ve observed is about 20 seconds. I know it looks complex, but it flows 17-to-20-percent-more traffic and does so at faster average speeds.”"

"“We’ve had 16 accidents in the big roundabout,” he said. “One crash in the middle roundabout. And six in the eastern one. All were minor, mostly sideswipes, ’cause the speeds are so slow. Prior to the roundabouts, you’d get guys blowing the lights, and there’d be high-speed broadsides that were really bad. “Even if you follow what we call the ‘fastest path,’” he said, “you’d voluntarily drive at about 25 mph.”"

 

I love them !!!

Wer just started installing them in our city.............there is 5-6 now that I have driven thru, and 2 that I go thru everyday on the way to and from the office........best thing since sliced bread is right !!

 

Sliced bread? You mean they're the best thing since onion wrapped beef, bean and triple cheese burritos at 6:25 am! Yeah so I **** my pants on the way to work... BREAKFAST WAS GREAT!



Turning circles, roundabouts and rotary's are all different.

I go through a turning circle that demands enter-ers yield to circle-ers. It's been running for several months and traffic clears quicker on average.

Ours is 3 lanes wide.

 

Anyone who blames a roadway or rules of the road for collisions can't drive and shouldn't be driving.

Perhaps in your town the rules aren't clear and that's what causes confusion.

An accident can be avoided because it's caused by a mistake like eating while driving or not paying attention. When two cars touch because they either don't follow the rules of the road or because someone is traveling too fast and the person who they're about to hit can't judge that increased speed it's called a collision.

 

haha i would think SA has a more "laid back" style to driving not too fast not too slow, houston is fast everywhere, austin has to many cars not enough space, and dallas seems to be a mix of austin and houston

 

You nailed it. If drivers understand the yield rules, vastly more traffic can be moved than with a stoplight. However, as I stated above, it gets really dicey when more than two opposing roads converge. It shouldn't but, it does, eh.

 

In a perfect world, I would agree with you.

But you throw stupid people into something they are not used to, and all you do is create more problems.
Hell, people think the amber light means FLOOR IT.

 

This is why roundabouts won't work.

 

Why? Comstock royalty fees?

 

Look kids, Big Ben!

 

http://www.peterjackson.org.uk/Multi-roundabouts/Web%20pages/multi-rb's.htm