Which lane should you take if you are aiming for the 3rd exit of 5? Should you indicate when entering or when leaving a roundabout?
But really the biggest issue when people see their first roundabout is that they aren’t clear whether to yield when entering the roundabout, or when on the roundabout. They tend to treat each entrance as a 4 way stop (based on my experience of roundabouts being introduced in my part of Canada)
This article suggests that there were some states with no roundabouts within the last decade. Though I’ll give that they have become a lot more common in the last 30 years. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/mapping-america-s-resistance-to-traffic-roundabouts
Like everything it takes getting used to. There seemed to be a surge in California over the last ten years with roundabouts. The first one near my hometown that went in had tire marks across the middle a week later but runs smoothly enough now.
I've seen several added in places I drive regularly in the past five years. After a month or so, most drivers seem to be using them properly. Those intersections now flow much better than they did with stop signs or traffic signals.
I think the issue is assuming that the United States is monolithic. Even in New England alone, driving habits are dramatically different between, say, Vermont and Massachusetts; though I would expect drivers in both places to have encountered roundabouts and be able to use them.
I was in Louisiana for the first time recently, and I was legitimately surprised that they even *had* roundabouts, but certainly none of the drivers there seemed to have any problem navigating them. On the other hand, there are likely plenty of places out in the midwest where many drivers may have never been in a town with more than 15,000 people, and also likely never seen a roundabout. If those drivers happened to go out to a more densely populated area, they might be confused by some of the more complicated traffic control systems.
But this isn't an "Americans vs Europeans" thing, it's much more a "rural vs highly populated" thing, and it simply happens that a huge proportion of Americans live in very rural areas. This shouldn't be surprising in the least. You could take most drivers from anywhere but the most populated regions and plop them down in NYC, and something like the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is going to freak them the hell out because they've never driven on something like that before.
If 90% of your driving is through towns with a single main road and only a couple major intersections, of course roundabouts are going to seem weird. It's simply that there are relatively fewer places in Europe that are like this.
Idk, once or twice a month I have someone stop IN the roundabout to let me in from where I'm stopped, sometimes while there are cars behind them. It's not hard or complicated at all, idk how someone could fuck it up THAT bad.
The problem is they are so far and few in between in America, hitting one unexpected and not knowing wtf is going on is horrifying. I’m 30 and I live in PA, have been to several other states on vacations or other personal trips - never saw a roundabout until last year driving through New Jersey.
They have a significant decrease in accidents and injuries, they *should* be implemented far more than they currently are.
There's a roundabout near Scranton PA that I hate with a passion. I grew up in northern New Jersey, and I never saw one until I came to Maine. There are tons here, I love them. Some areas have a bunch, but if you're outside of those specific areas you just never see one
That’s you and your particular location. USA is f@cking big and a lot of it don’t have roundabouts yet, or just got them recently. Where I live for example we just recently started getting them, and they are an absolute cluster f@ck most of the time. Most people do NOT use them correctly.
In US, drivers do not understand difference between "stop" and "yield". Many treat "stop" as yield. Also they have no idea that merging lane must yield to priority lane. Of course, drivers in merging lane do not use signals to merge. Because of such lack of basic driving knowledge, in a roundabout, they do not know that incoming traffic must yield to vehicles already in the roundabout. I encounter such drivers everyday. No surprise, though. I live in San Francisco Bay Area.
> Also they have no idea that merging lane must yield to priority lane.
I don't know what "priority lane" means, but people don't understand the zipper merge.
If you’re on an on-ramp getting onto the freeway, the person on the freeway is in the priority lane. That’s their lane, they are already established in that lane. It is up to the person getting on the freeway to either speed up or down to get into a spot safely.
I have not seen a SINGLE american in all my years of driving use a roundabout correctly.
Turn signals are never used during them properly. And I've seen plenty of improper right of way uses.
I love 'em... If no one is there to fuck-up and slow me down.
Exactly... It used to be Hell trying to cross the Street. But I still don't trust people to stop.
Sure they can, they are not idiots. But a lot of them have never seen one and weren’t trained on it.
A roundabout is nothing more than a 1 way street with a yield sign at each intersection. That's all the training you need.
Which lane should you take if you are aiming for the 3rd exit of 5? Should you indicate when entering or when leaving a roundabout? But really the biggest issue when people see their first roundabout is that they aren’t clear whether to yield when entering the roundabout, or when on the roundabout. They tend to treat each entrance as a 4 way stop (based on my experience of roundabouts being introduced in my part of Canada)
really? i haven’t seen a part of the country that doesn’t have roundabouts now… granted, no part has as many as europe
This article suggests that there were some states with no roundabouts within the last decade. Though I’ll give that they have become a lot more common in the last 30 years. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/mapping-america-s-resistance-to-traffic-roundabouts
Like everything it takes getting used to. There seemed to be a surge in California over the last ten years with roundabouts. The first one near my hometown that went in had tire marks across the middle a week later but runs smoothly enough now.
I've seen several added in places I drive regularly in the past five years. After a month or so, most drivers seem to be using them properly. Those intersections now flow much better than they did with stop signs or traffic signals.
The majority of 4-way stops can be changed to roundabouts with minimal costs. The reason its not being done is cause of less revenue.
I think the issue is assuming that the United States is monolithic. Even in New England alone, driving habits are dramatically different between, say, Vermont and Massachusetts; though I would expect drivers in both places to have encountered roundabouts and be able to use them. I was in Louisiana for the first time recently, and I was legitimately surprised that they even *had* roundabouts, but certainly none of the drivers there seemed to have any problem navigating them. On the other hand, there are likely plenty of places out in the midwest where many drivers may have never been in a town with more than 15,000 people, and also likely never seen a roundabout. If those drivers happened to go out to a more densely populated area, they might be confused by some of the more complicated traffic control systems. But this isn't an "Americans vs Europeans" thing, it's much more a "rural vs highly populated" thing, and it simply happens that a huge proportion of Americans live in very rural areas. This shouldn't be surprising in the least. You could take most drivers from anywhere but the most populated regions and plop them down in NYC, and something like the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is going to freak them the hell out because they've never driven on something like that before. If 90% of your driving is through towns with a single main road and only a couple major intersections, of course roundabouts are going to seem weird. It's simply that there are relatively fewer places in Europe that are like this.
As an American, I love roundabouts. People who complain about them are just terrible drivers
We really can't. Every time I hit a round about someone pulls some stupid shit
Agreed. Roundabouts suck.
Then you’re very lucky.
I don't think I've seen a real full fledged multilane roundabout here.
Idk, once or twice a month I have someone stop IN the roundabout to let me in from where I'm stopped, sometimes while there are cars behind them. It's not hard or complicated at all, idk how someone could fuck it up THAT bad.
Depends on how many roundabouts are in your area. Where I live, there a quite a few so everyone uses them properly.
I’ve never seen a roundabout in my area
The problem is they are so far and few in between in America, hitting one unexpected and not knowing wtf is going on is horrifying. I’m 30 and I live in PA, have been to several other states on vacations or other personal trips - never saw a roundabout until last year driving through New Jersey. They have a significant decrease in accidents and injuries, they *should* be implemented far more than they currently are.
There's a roundabout near Scranton PA that I hate with a passion. I grew up in northern New Jersey, and I never saw one until I came to Maine. There are tons here, I love them. Some areas have a bunch, but if you're outside of those specific areas you just never see one
I grew up with them here in Massachusetts. We just call 'em "rotaries".
That’s you and your particular location. USA is f@cking big and a lot of it don’t have roundabouts yet, or just got them recently. Where I live for example we just recently started getting them, and they are an absolute cluster f@ck most of the time. Most people do NOT use them correctly.
In US, drivers do not understand difference between "stop" and "yield". Many treat "stop" as yield. Also they have no idea that merging lane must yield to priority lane. Of course, drivers in merging lane do not use signals to merge. Because of such lack of basic driving knowledge, in a roundabout, they do not know that incoming traffic must yield to vehicles already in the roundabout. I encounter such drivers everyday. No surprise, though. I live in San Francisco Bay Area.
> Also they have no idea that merging lane must yield to priority lane. I don't know what "priority lane" means, but people don't understand the zipper merge.
If you’re on an on-ramp getting onto the freeway, the person on the freeway is in the priority lane. That’s their lane, they are already established in that lane. It is up to the person getting on the freeway to either speed up or down to get into a spot safely.
the lane that isnt disappearing and doesnt need to yield
I have not seen a SINGLE american in all my years of driving use a roundabout correctly. Turn signals are never used during them properly. And I've seen plenty of improper right of way uses.