This is a new roundabout in my city. It is getting attention on social media, apparently people driving on the two lane road don’t like to yield to cars already in the roundy ...
Shocking, right? Do you like how the road at the top (green arrow) is directed into the OUTSIDE lane?
I’m tempted to go circle it in my beater truck and see who yields. Tempted but not gonna...
I rode in a school bus on a 3 lane roundabout in Syracuse NY. When I was in high school. School bus driver had quite a colorful vulgar vocabulary.
I mean, it makes sense if someone coming from the top road goes past the first right, they must be headed for that other road, hence the outside lane. Unless I am missing something...
Two lane roundys really throw people around here for a loop. Ha see cause ... loop.
They put in a new roundabout near my inlaws. 2 different 4 lanes dumping into it, along with a shopping center parking lot.
Thing is gonna get someone (me) killed. I don't think it makes any sense to anyone in it.
a new one was put in on the highway in front of the new costco. Its ridiculously bad, 15mph from a 55 too
Yep, I can relate.
The yellow lanes must yield to traffic. The green lanes do not have to yield as they have their own lanes.
I have almost been hit about a dozen times from traffic entering the circle from the right side. People cannot figure out that they must yield to traffic exiting the circle at the top.
One girl, who was on her phone, cut me off at that spot. We were headed north (up). I was exiting the circle and she was entering it. I was having a bad day so I just said "berk it" and didn't brake when she came flying in. I ended up literally 3 inches off of her bumper. The sheer look of terror on her face was priceless.
The funny thing is that the roundabout replaced a perfectly good T-intersection with traffic lights. The city redid the whole intersection because there were too many accidents. Irony at it's finest.
My biggest issue with them is most of them are too small. A 4 way stop would work just as well. At least most people know how they work.
One thing about roundabouts is the type of accidents changes. At square intersections, you get T-bones. At roundabouts, you get sideswipes or close to it. I dunno about you, but I know which one I'd prefer.
Construction is just about finished on a roundabout near us. It was a traffic light four way intersection. During construction, they went to a baby roundabout that was about the size of a four way stop. It didn't work all that well because it was so small, and a lot of people treated it like a four way stop - which was maddening if you tried to treat it like a roundabout. They just opened up the full size last week and all of a sudden it's super-smooth, even without the dedicated right turn lanes that are on all four directions.
But here's the thing: even in the middle of a busy construction zone and with the baby size temporary roundabout, traffic throughput went up. This is data, not an impression. When the big roundabout opened up, traffic unplugged so well they immediately had problems with speed. Despite all the moaning and groaning and "change is bad" protestations, it's working really, really well.
As for the original roundabout that OSHCrifle posted - it's pretty clear where the majority of traffic is going, and the roundabout is designed to suit. We have one kinda like that in town and it works well enough. Again, it made an immediate difference to traffic throughput.
Now, for fun, try to figure out how to navigate Swindon's Magic Roundabout. This is in the UK, so approaching traffic is driving on the left.
The other advantage a rotary has is the ability to turn a sure crash into a close call. A car's 5 1/2' wide. If two drivers disagree on right of way, they can avoid a collision at the last moment if the rotary's 11' wide or bigger - and they're usually almost wide enough to go three-wide.
EastCoastMojo said:I mean, it makes sense if someone coming from the top road goes past the first right, they must be headed for that other road, hence the outside lane. Unless I am missing something...
Two lane roundys really throw people around here for a loop. Ha see cause ... loop.
Yes but it is a two lane lane exit. If only one lane excited I see your point.
The roundabout in the OP is pretty strange. I don’t see any reason why they would want cars to cross the lane at the bottom. They could even put a solid barrier between the two lanes at the bottom of the roundabout and it would work fine (you would just need a sign to tell cars they need to be in the left lane if they want to use the roundabout).
Roundabouts are the work of the devil. More than once I’ve been stuck at a busy one longer than I would have been if it had been a light. Traffic was so tight going around the loop there were no gaps to pull into.
We just had one added recently and people still go straight through like the main road has a right of way. People seem to struggle with the concept that you yield to the car coming from your left. I have to enter from the south and exit to the west. South bound cars don't yield. I've scared more than one driver and my wife isn't too impressed when I do it.
Around here, everybody yields to traffic coming from the left. There is no 'go through without yielding' lane.
Personally, I'm a fan of them. They're safer, better for the environment, reduce congestion and they're more fun.
Roundabouts work well in other parts of the world because drivers there know how to use them. I think the average driver in Canada and the US is pretty clueless on how they are supposed to work, proper signaling and the like. If people actually used their signals in roundabouts, they'd flow better and be safer.
As is my understanding, proper roundabout signaling is that you signal right when exiting, left when going past an exit. Makes it super clear to the drivers approaching the roundabout.
I've never used a signal in a roundabout. I'm not sure why it would help.
We have a bunch of them around here and for the most part they work very well. One of the local towns is doing a good job getting rid of stop signs and lights (many can be replaced with merge signs) and speeding up traffic.
The problem with roundabouts isn't roundabouts.
The whole "nobody knows how to use them" argument is used around here, but there have been major roundabouts in town for two decades. So it's not a valid excuse anymore :)
They do work better than lights - up to a point. Once they get over a certain volume they clog, so they have to be properly sized.
chaparral said:...they're usually almost wide enough to go three-wide.
Challenge accepted!
Robbie said:EastCoastMojo said:I mean, it makes sense if someone coming from the top road goes past the first right, they must be headed for that other road, hence the outside lane. Unless I am missing something...
Two lane roundys really throw people around here for a loop. Ha see cause ... loop.
Yes but it is a two lane lane exit. If only one lane excited I see your point.
This is my contention also. They should have a curb between the two lanes so the outside lane avoids the roundabout.
NJ has been pulling them out for years. They worked well with the locals, but throw in tourists from PA, NY, and elsewhere and they turned into pure chaos. It is a shame, the replacements have been far worse. The newest replacement is still a circle, but with a road straight down the middle, so it is a roundabout with lights for all the exits except for one. The Exit from the airport and industrial centre has no light and once a day between 4 and 5:30, it turns into a snarled mile long mess as all those people try to go home.
bad planning at it's purest form
OHSCrifle said:This is a new roundabout in my city. It is getting attention on social media, apparently people driving on the two lane road don’t like to yield to cars already in the roundy ...
Shocking, right? Do you like how the road at the top (green arrow) is directed into the OUTSIDE lane?
I’m tempted to go circle it in my beater truck and see who yields. Tempted but not gonna...
Is this the new one near AMP? I’ve seen some scary E36 M3 there in its month or two of existence.
Honestly, I don't have a problem with roundabouts. They work well if they are properly implemented.
Suprf1y said:The problem with roundabouts isn't roundabouts.
Nailed it. People in my city can barely figure out how to navigate a Walmart parking lot let alone an unconventional (in this part of the world) traffic control device.
Ever see someone try to go clockwise in a roundabout? Despite all of the signage and curbs, the woman I saw did just that. She even signalled.
Something something better mousetrap and all that.
Suprf1y said:I've never used a signal in a roundabout. I'm not sure why it would help.
Signalling right to leave the roundabout lets the person at the next entrance know that it's safe to enter the roundabout, because you're not continuing around. As with all signalling, you can't take the lack of a signal as meaning anything, but a signal to leave the roundabout likely means the driver is leaving the roundabout. This helps traffic flow.
The main problem is most drivers are not able to merge in traffic. They can not judge speed and space, and therefore a detriment to a safe efficient traffic flow.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
It's as well they have the fire station located right on the roundabout. Do the english station emts with their fire rescue service? But then what happens when the firetrucks come out sirens wailing? 
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