Ken Streeter wrote:
>
> Jim Harroun wrote:
>
> > I just returned from a vacation in England, and I loved
> > the roundabouts. They keep the traffic moving, no matter
> > how busy it is.
>
> I, too, loved the roundabouts when living in England. However,
> wherever I've seen them in the states, American drivers just
> don't understand them; neither do the local authorities.
> Roundabouts (called "rotaries" in the colonies) are not too
> uncommon in the New England states, but really haven't worked
> too well, because of the following:
>
> * The drivers haven't seen how the traffic is supposed to
> flow through them: gently slowing down, merging, and
> exiting, even on simple one-lane roundabouts. Trying to
> get American drivers to drive properly through a two-lane
> roundabout (rotary) is just about hopeless.
>
> * Since drivers don't know how to drive through them,
> accidents happen, and the well-intentioned authorities
> "fix" the problem by putting up signs which contradict the
> way that traffic is supposed to flow in the roundabout.
> At least half of the rotaries I am familiar with in
> NH / Mass have a yield sign somewhere IN the roundabout,
> where traffic in the roundabout is supposed to yield to
> traffic entering the roundabout. This causes immediate
> gridlock in heavy traffic, since the roundabout fills up.
>
> * The rotaries that don't have a yield sign IN the roundabout
> seem to have stop signs on the entrances, so that entering
> traffic must first come to a complete stop -- this prevents
> the gentle merging that is intended, and leads to even more
> problems, which often seem to end up with the roundabout
> getting replaced with stop lights, or, worse let, having
> stop lights placed at the entrances!
>
> My conclusion is that the aptitude of the American driver doesn't
> allow them to deal with anything so complicated as a roundabout --
> Americans are much more comfortable with stop lights, unfortunately.
>
> I wish we could educate the public on how roundabouts work
> so that the drivers would know what they are doing, and we could
> have smoothly flowing traffic, but I'm afraid it would be a long,
> uphill battle doomed to failure.
>
Yeah, Ken! Sorta like trying to get all countries driving on the same
side of the road. That's what started this thread in the first place.
Now look here we've come full "CIRCLE" Pardon the pun!!
Joe Curry '63 Spit
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