Why The U.S. Hates Roundabouts

[Morris Minor]

TL;DR version - roundabouts are better & safer but it's hard to persuade Americans that they can handle them.


https://youtu.be/AqcyRxZJCXc

[Payman]

Metric is easier and much more efficient, but it's the work of Commie Lucifer.

[Soup DeVille]

If we hate them so much, why are there so many?

[giant_mtb]

tl;dr  people that don't understand them hate them because they are probably bad drivers to begin with

[MrH]

Carmel, IN is the roundabout capital of the US and it's awesome.  I have friends that live there, it's a blast to hit one after another at full tilt when there is zero traffic.

[FoMoJo]

It might be fun to drift around a few times before going shooting off in the direction that you want.

[Payman]

If we hate them so much, why are there so many?

3 main reasons:
1.   Takes up less real estate than a typical cloverleaf interchange,
2.   Can link anywhere from 3 to 6 or more streets without stop signs or traffic lights,
3.   Costs a fuckton less than an overpass.

[NomisR]

There's this one that was in Long Beach that people seems to be afraid of.  As you can see, people don't know how to deal with it sitting at the stop sign not knowing how to get in.

https://youtu.be/qRFKfERL5ZQ

[CaminoRacer]

The lack of lane lines in the circle might be confusing for a lot of people

[RomanChariot]

That traffic circle is a hot mess and would be a nightmare in heavy traffic. the road coming in from the right is a 3 lane road that splits into 4 lanes as it hits the circle. The far right lane is forced into the first exit. The lane next to that lane has to make the first exit or the lane next to it won't have the option of making the first exit but there are no lines showing that. If you watch right at the beginning of the top down view you see a car enter from the right side in the outer lane (not the one forced to exit) and proceeds straight to the inside lane and then takes the 2nd exit in the outer lane.

I love roundabouts and I have one intersection near me that was converted to a roundabout that has been a huge improvement. I have another one near me that I would love to see turned into a roundabout. However, roundabouts work best where there are only 2 lane roads connected to it. When you start adding more lanes they get too confusing for the general public.

[Morris Minor]

Traffic circles have stop signs. Roundabouts don't.

And on Nick's point on real estate needed. Signalized intersections take up very little space  - so you're not going to see roundabouts replacing red lights in established city centers.

[Laconian]

tl;dr  people that don't understand them hate them because they are probably bad drivers to begin with

*cough* old people.

[NomisR]

That traffic circle is a hot mess and would be a nightmare in heavy traffic. the road coming in from the right is a 3 lane road that splits into 4 lanes as it hits the circle. The far right lane is forced into the first exit. The lane next to that lane has to make the first exit or the lane next to it won't have the option of making the first exit but there are no lines showing that. If you watch right at the beginning of the top down view you see a car enter from the right side in the outer lane (not the one forced to exit) and proceeds straight to the inside lane and then takes the 2nd exit in the outer lane.

I love roundabouts and I have one intersection near me that was converted to a roundabout that has been a huge improvement. I have another one near me that I would love to see turned into a roundabout. However, roundabouts work best where there are only 2 lane roads connected to it. When you start adding more lanes they get too confusing for the general public.

I would say the one I posted is not that bad, at least to me anyways, but most people seem to go out of their way to avoid it.  I've had to go to a business near that area and they specifically mentioned that i may need to go through the traffic circle i guess in case I wanted to avoid it.  I just found that funny.

[CaminoRacer]

I would say the one I posted is not that bad, at least to me anyways, but most people seem to go out of their way to avoid it.  I've had to go to a business near that area and they specifically mentioned that i may need to go through the traffic circle i guess in case I wanted to avoid it.  I just found that funny.

It's a nice big one that would be amazing to drift. Basically the size of a skidpad.

[CaminoRacer]

There's a tiny "roundabout" they installed here in Provo that's like a 5 foot diameter curb in the middle of a normal intersection and they removed the stop/yield signs on the intersecting road so now it's a free for all. But the center circle is so small you barely have to go around it so it's a bit scary. Basically just a free for all 4-way (no)stop. But Europe does similar things - some small towns have dots in the center of the intersection to make it a "roundabout".

[Morris Minor]

There's a tiny "roundabout" they installed here in Provo that's like a 5 foot diameter curb in the middle of a normal intersection and they removed the stop/yield signs on the intersecting road so now it's a free for all. But the center circle is so small you barely have to go around it so it's a bit scary. Basically just a free for all 4-way (no)stop. But Europe does similar things - some small towns have dots in the center of the intersection to make it a "roundabout".

Sometimes the free-for-all is best - forces people to surface their attention & consciously negotiate  - rather than automatically moving off at "green-is-go" & getting killed in a T-bone.

[Laconian]

There's a tiny "roundabout" they installed here in Provo that's like a 5 foot diameter curb in the middle of a normal intersection and they removed the stop/yield signs on the intersecting road so now it's a free for all. But the center circle is so small you barely have to go around it so it's a bit scary. Basically just a free for all 4-way (no)stop. But Europe does similar things - some small towns have dots in the center of the intersection to make it a "roundabout".

Sounds more like a "traffic calming device" than a roundabout. We have a few of them where I live and I see Boomers biff it all the time.

[shp4man]

The US term is "Traffic Circle". There's a few here in SD, but most American drivers are confused by them.

[Soup DeVille]

Ehh, they're quite common here, have yield signs and the state refers to them as roundabouts.

Mostly no problems, but I do know some people avoid them.

[veeman]

There aren't any roundabouts near where I live that I take regularly.  I don't ever purposely avoid a roundabout but I don't particularly like them, particularly ones with multiple entry/exit points and ones with two or more lanes within the roundabout. Since it's not on a road I'm that familiar with, I'll be using Waze or Googlemaps to find my way.  The accuracy/delay of current real time navigation systems makes roundabouts confusing with multiple entry/exit points.  It's hard to real time look at Waze and the road and figure out which exit you have to take.  Also, especially at night, it's hard to figure out real time which lane I should get into in the roundabout since I don't particularly know beforehand which exit I have to take.  I also don't like merging onto the roundabout if the outside lane is open but the inside lane is occupied by a car.  What if that inside lane car is trying to merge to the outside lane when I try to enter the roundabout.  It's confusing man.  Maybe I'm just an old guy.  I'd prefer a smart traffic light which changes lights based on traffic. 

[giant_mtb]

The US term is "Traffic Circle". There's a few here in SD, but most American drivers are confused by them.

False. They are two different things.

[shp4man]

"Never cross to the center island of a roundabout"    Der.

I prefer the Mexican traffic rules...whoever has the loudest horn goes first. 

[veeman]

False. They are two different things.

Wow.  This is very helpful.  Never knew this. 

[NomisR]

It's a nice big one that would be amazing to drift. Basically the size of a skidpad.

I attempted it once with my Rx8... i didn't really work out too well,  I didn't want to push it too hard though since there's a police station a block from the traffic circle.

[CaminoRacer]

I attempted it once with my Rx8... i didn't really work out too well,  I didn't want to push it too hard though since there's a police station a block from the traffic circle.

Yeah I always dream of doing it but never have the balls to push it that hard on the street. Only in autox.

[Soup DeVille]

Yeah I always dream of doing it but never have the balls to push it that hard on the street. Only in autox.

Snow. Go slow and drift.

[giant_mtb]

Snow. Go slow and drift.

All the roundabouts here except one are on US41, so they are well maintained...they don't let slippery stuff build up very often.

[CaminoRacer]

Snow. Go slow and drift.

I've drifted a cloverleaf on-ramp during an ice storm before. That was awesome.

[MX793]

There's a tiny "roundabout" they installed here in Provo that's like a 5 foot diameter curb in the middle of a normal intersection and they removed the stop/yield signs on the intersecting road so now it's a free for all. But the center circle is so small you barely have to go around it so it's a bit scary. Basically just a free for all 4-way (no)stop. But Europe does similar things - some small towns have dots in the center of the intersection to make it a "roundabout".

We've got a couple like that around here.  There's so little space between entries into the round about that it can be tough to actually flow into it and you see people having to stop anyway.

[Soup DeVille]

I've drifted a cloverleaf on-ramp during an ice storm before. That was awesome.

I've done that too.

Unintentionally.

At about 10 MPH in Freightliner that weighed 102,000 lbs.

I shit myself.