3 ms·

I like roundabouts but American drivers on average have no idea what to do with them, not even from a common sense perspective. To be fair, American drivers are

I like roundabouts but American drivers on average have no idea what to do with them, not even from a common sense perspective. To be fair, American drivers are vanishingly able to handle four way intersection, but I digress. There are two roundabouts near me. The same two problems are rampant. 1. Failure to yield and yoloing into the circle at or nearly at full speed. One of the circles has a full stop sign, where some drivers seem to think that just because they stopped they are entitled to go next and the traffic already in the circle should and will stop to let them go, like a four way. The other doesn’t have stop sign, and I think people take the lack of one to mean they don’t have to yield or in any way pay attention because, hey, no stop sign. Admittedly, part of this is due to shitty design of the circles themselves. 2. Cars in the circle suddenly exiting without signaling, often veering across the outer lane of traffic. Part of this is driver’s education issue (I don’t think they taught us about roundabouts when I got my license several decades ago), part is the fact that in general people are allergic to signaling and have no awareness of other vehicles around them, as we have the same problem on highways. Perhaps this is more of an awkward transitional period for their use in the States, but honestly I think the bigger problem is we on average have very poor roadmanship and inconsistent road design.

Fatnino 3y ago
Stanford University has been installing roundabouts in recent years. But they put pedestrian cross walks across all the entrances and exits. So you find yourself driving around and come across a car fully stopped in the loop because some kid is crossing the exit on foot.
- bonton89 3y ago
  We had a roundabout like that with stop lights in the middle for the crosswalks, although I think the crosswalks were later removed and rerouted foot traffic elsehwere. I felt like everyone was complaining people didn't know how to use it but it seemed obvious to me the designers didn't understand the concept either. The crosswalks seemed to exist so the center green could be used a part. I'm not sure how many people enjoy sitting in a part literally surrounded by exhaust fumes and road noise. The same roundabout has double lanes for only half of the circle so if you are not familiar with it you may find yourself forced to exit suddenly at a turn you didn't want because the lane stops existing. My understand was the point of a roundabout was that traffic always kept moving inside them and you shouldn't stress if you miss the turn because you can just go around the circle to try again.

Fatnino 3y ago

Stanford University has been installing roundabouts in recent years. But they put pedestrian cross walks across all the entrances and exits. So you find yourself driving around and come across a car fully stopped in the loop because some kid is crossing the exit on foot.

bonton89 3y ago
We had a roundabout like that with stop lights in the middle for the crosswalks, although I think the crosswalks were later removed and rerouted foot traffic elsehwere. I felt like everyone was complaining people didn't know how to use it but it seemed obvious to me the designers didn't understand the concept either. The crosswalks seemed to exist so the center green could be used a part. I'm not sure how many people enjoy sitting in a part literally surrounded by exhaust fumes and road noise. The same roundabout has double lanes for only half of the circle so if you are not familiar with it you may find yourself forced to exit suddenly at a turn you didn't want because the lane stops existing. My understand was the point of a roundabout was that traffic always kept moving inside them and you shouldn't stress if you miss the turn because you can just go around the circle to try again.