o-dog

I wish our government would finally acknowledge that most American drivers are too stupid to use traffic circles and get rid of them. all of them.

probably 90% of the near-accidents I have had in the last four years both in my car and on my bike have been at a traffic circle and have ALWAYS been due to some moron blowing into the circle front of me when I was already in the circle.

I don't know what's so hard about the concept of yielding to drivers already in the circle but most people can't seem to grasp it for some reason.

maddyfish

At our Ky. home a 4 way light was just removed and a circle put in its place. Works well.

fordmanvt

traffic lights and stop signs don't work if people don't obey them either.

BarracksSi

o-dog, your problem is that you live around here.

Hate to say it, but I think we need a large-scale public information campaign. I can't be sure that traffic circles are ever part of regular driving instruction. I certainly don't remember anything from the last time I took a driver's test.

dogbitteneear

It's a bad case of I'm more important than the rest of the world.

John E

A well-engineered single lane traffic circle with a tight radius is safer than a 2-way or 4-way stop. A higher-speed large-radius traffic circle, particularly a multilane one, can be a deathtrap for pedestrians and bicyclists.

o-dog

all the traffic circles in my town are the kind you're talking about, single lane. drivers here are too stupid to even use those.

o-dog, your problem is that you live around here.

Hate to say it, but I think we need a large-scale public information campaign. I can't be sure that traffic circles are ever part of regular driving instruction. I certainly don't remember anything from the last time I took a driver's test.

yeah seriously, I briefly remember traffic circles from driver's ed. I think there should be a sign right next to every traffic circle that says "WHEN ENTERING THE CIRCLE, YIELD TO DRIVERS ALREADY IN THE CIRCLE". people need it spelled out for them.

DX-MAN

Yup, they do -- it's sad, but true.

But, in my town, they work well. Four have been built that I know of, and traffic flows better with them.

genec

Not too good for drivers either... I just returned from Fort Worth where there is at least one large multilaned traffic circle... with various yield signs that actually vary the message to incoming motorists depending on your approach. How confusing.

gcottay

That has not been my experience but, then, I was taught that circles are all about smooth merges.

fordmanvt

I've seen those exact signs in MA.

SlimAgainSoon

We have two traffic circles in my neighborhood. Both are big improvements over the stop signs they replaces. Really moves the traffic. No accidents that I recall.

These are, however, single lane. Multi-lane traffic circles take some getting used to.

Ngchen

I haven't seen any multi-lane ones yet; they defineitely look confusing. That being said, we had a single-lane one installed here (Concord Rd and Northshore) recently (past 1-2 years or so) and once the people got used to it, it works really well. Before, the place was perpetually backed up on Concord Rd where there was a stop sign.

The Human Car

Ahh traffic circles exchanging serious accidents for more fender benders and that's supposed to be a good thing for bikes and peds as well.

I have no problems with them even the infamous Towson Town Circle on my bike but they are not part of any regular commuting ether.

O-dog if you want to get involved in bicycling issues check these guys out: https://www.cpabc.org/

Roody

If all they cause is "near-accidents" they aren't so bad. A lot of the intersections that were replaced by traffic circles caused real accidents.

Ed Holland

I grew up in England, now live in the US and wish there were more roundabouts here. They can work extremely well and are quite OK to navigate by bike once you have built up a bit of experience and confidence. The only situations I dont like are the very largest intersections between major roads & motorways (freeways) because traffic speeds are higher.

I really don't understand the USA's love of the stop sign. I think it asks far to much of everybody's patience, and is not even implemented consistently. but that's not for here...

Digital_Cowboy

They do, but sadly I'm sure that there will still be drivers who don't yield.

JRA

Misunderstanding of roundabouts is widespread in the U.S.-- not suprising since the only experience Americans have historically had with traffic circles has not been with roundabouts but, instead, with either scary large diameter rotaries (with high speed merging and weaving) or highly inefficient traffic circles (controlled by stops sign, yield signs or signals).

But the fact that Americans don't understand roundabouts does not mean that roundabouts aren't a good idea.

The modern roundabout is an animal most Americans have not seen until very recently, and they simply don't understand the concepts-- specifically, yield at entry and slow down even if you don't need to stop.

Some of the new roundabouts I've seen seem to lack a key feature of a well-designed roundabout, namely, deflection at entry (intended to force motorists to slow down). A motorist can pretty much blow through some roundabouts without slowing, and that is simply wrong.

From what I've read, a well-designed roundabout is often more efficient than either a stop-controlled or signal controlled intersection. And roundabouts seem to reduce accidents for motorists. But roundabouts don't seem to reduce the number of accidents involving bicycles (and may present some serious problems for pedestrians). How accident severity is affected I don't know.

Another problem is that a roundabout is likely to take up more space than an intersection-- and space costs money.

Bikepacker67

I like traffic circles cuz more likely than not, I'll have an opportunity to use my AirZound to school some dolt about what the word YEILD means.

BarracksSi

True, and it can displace nearby residences or businesses.

The city wanted to put in one at an intersection in my hometown, and the people living and working there raised a stink. So, they modified it into "The Peanut":
https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...02419&t=h&z=19

Imagine that intersection with regular stop signs and you'll quickly understand why it sucked so bad and needed to be changed.

FlatMaster

Never really had any trouble with traffic circles.

The're fun to take over durring critical mass. We had 100+ riders in one once. Round and round and round!!

prathmann

Then after multi-lane, wait until they convert them to "Magic Roundabouts."

Ed Holland

Ahhhh, Swindon, lovely Swindon!

You do know just how rare that "Magic" layout is, don't you?

degnaw

aren't there two?

New jersey is notorious for cannibalization and/or unconventional right of way at traffic circles.

Ed Holland

I believe you are right, it's just that Swindon is so close to Oxford, where I lived for a long while so it sprang immediately to mind. It's magic roundabout is famous, or is that notorious....

The design from New Jersey has also been adopted in the UK, and is known as a "Hamburger" design. It allows for the situation where there is one particularly dominant route, but in the implementations I've seen, it also has lights controlling traffic flow onto, around and through the circle. Once they get the programming right, it's very good.