GARGOYLES wrote:
> Although a young man I have lived in different regions of the US and
> also in western Europe. I have also had the privilege of driving in all
> of the above. Guess what? There are idiot drivers everywhere. There
> are also good drivers everywhere. Wow. Let's use our bandwidth for
> further discussion on how bad a driver I obviously am by not being
> European born (no offense to my recently immigrating forefathers).
Thanks for the gentle reminder that I shouldn't be so
readily stereotyping American drivers as incapable of
appreciating a roundabout. You're right; I shouldn't
be so quick to generalize.
Thinking on that some more, it turns out that in order for
any traffic flow control system to work (whether traffic lights,
or roundabouts) it is necessary for everybody to understand the
rules. In order for traffic lights to serve their purpose,
everybody has to know to go when the light is green, and stop
when it is red. American drivers are "taught" this starting at
about the age of 2 when a toddler learns that green is "go" and
red is "stop." This is then re-inforced through thousands of
rides as a passenger before becoming a driver.
In the UK, toddlers get the same familiarity with roundabouts
that USA youngsters do with traffic lights.
In order for roundabouts to work equally well in the USA,
we would need to start our training just as early...
--ken
PS: I must confess to not being very familiar with traffic
circles in the DC-area, but anybody that is familiar with the
Fresh Pond Rotaries in Cambridge, MA (Metropolitan Boston) has
an excellent example of where they DON'T WORK, largely due to
the practice of the drivers entering the rotary taking "right
of way." Most rotaries that I've seen in NH / MA aren't much
better.
--
Kenneth B. Streeter | EMAIL: streeter@sanders.com
Sanders, PTP2-A001 |
PO Box 868 | Voice: (603) 885-9604
Nashua, NH 03061 | Fax: (603) 885-0631
|