BBC News Magazine has an article Is the British roundabout conquering the US? And it seems the general answer is “No”, in spite of the popularity of these traffic circles in a few parts of America like Carmel, Indiana.
Apparently despite
on average a 40% decrease in all accidents and a 90% drop in fatal ones when a traffic intersection is replaced by a roundabout
there is a lot of resistance in the USA to making this change. The BBC reports the views of one American journalist who
thinks there is something deep in the American psyche which is fundamentally opposed to [roundabouts].
“This is a culture predicated on freedom and individualism, where spontaneous co-operation is difficult and regimentation is resisted.
“You see it in the way Americans get in line, or as the Brits say, queue. We don’t do that very well.
“Behind the wheel, we’re less likely to abide by an orderly pattern of merging that, though faster for the group, make require an individual to slow down or, God forbid, yield.”
Americans tend to be orthogonal in their thinking and behaviour, he says.
“We like right angles, yes and no answers, Manichean explanations. Roundabouts require more subtlety than we’re used to.”
Interesting. Is this true? I must say I find the way Americans handle four-way stop sign junctions (unknown in the UK) requires even more “spontaneous co-operation” than negotiating a roundabout. And as a Brit who also resists regimentation, I much prefer roundabouts to traffic lights or stop signs, at least unless the roads are very congested.
Meanwhile here in the UK the traditional roundabout is under threat. More and more are being rendered pointless by having traffic lights added to them. And here in Warrington a major roundabout is currently being ploughed up to be replaced by traffic lights. Perhaps in a few years they will found more often in America than in Britain.
As for Americans requiring “Manichean explanations” (something no British journalist would write expecting to be understood!), perhaps that explains a lot about their theology and their church life.
Roundabouts have sprouted all over the place here in the Minneapolis metro and seem to take one of two typical paths:
1. Large, multilane roundabouts with separate entrance/exit lanes that seem excessive for the amount of traffic moving through them — these are completely foreign to our learned driving experience in the States and boggle the brain the first few times they are encountered. Future generations of drivers will probably navigate them just fine, but for now we’ve got a bunch of old dogs learning new tricks.
2. Small single-lane roundabouts randomly stuck in the middle of a typical suburban street pattern. Very tight turning radius that forces traffic to slow far below typical street speeds. Plus the city designers see fit to plant tall grasses and trees in the middle of the roundabout so that you cannot effectively see the traffic coming from the other directions, forcing you again to slow down to a yield to make sure that someone isn’t coming pell mell around the corner.
I don’t mind roundabouts in general, but I do mind when the benefits are negated by poor design and layout. If properly sized and with visible site lines so that traffic can keep moving at or close to posted speed limits through the intersection (as they would with a traditional “green light”), then I would welcome them without hesitation.
ElShaddai
Thanks, ElShaddai. I’ve seen some of those single lane roundabouts in USA which slow people down excessively. They are rare here – but we have “mini-roundabouts” which are just a white hump in the middle of the road, which big trucks have to drive over when turning a corner (and many cars do but they aren’t supposed to). We have more of the large multi-lane ones which certainly confuse new drivers, but are good when you get used to them. I don’t remember seeing them in USA. We probably do better than you in keeping the sight lines clear.
It would be nice if one didn’t have to slow for roundabouts. But as far as I’m concerned if I don’t have to stop completely more than half the time, as at traffic lights, I am happy if I only have to slow down.
Change? Oh my God! Anything but change! 😉
Peter, there are four-way stops in the UK. I had to drive through one twice a day for about 10 years. They’re not common, though – I can’t think of any others right now.
I have given lifts to Americans who find our roundabouts very strange things indeed – they’ve never seen them before so don’t know what to call them – “traffic circles” is one term someone came out with. Also I think in America it’s legal to go through a red light to turn right if the road is clear (if that sounds crazy, remember they drive on the right).
Near where I live, the council has recently ripped out some traffic lights and put a roundabout in. It does seem to have improved things.
But anyway, I have a theory as to why these things get changed. There must be armies of men in council offices who have to keep themselves busy to avoid being made redudant – so once they’ve finished one traffic scheme, they have to think of another, and another, and another…………….
From what I remember, it depends on which state you are in whether you are allowed to turn right at a red light. Very confusing when driving through 20 states as I did last year …
Here in Warrington they have been renovating every set of traffic lights in the last year. I drive through four most days and they have worked on all of them, one by one. Now those are finished they have turning the roundabout into traffic lights. They must have a team of traffic light engineers to keep busy!
We have them here. They’re called rotaries.
I’m and American and my first experience with a roundabout was in 2000 after landing in Shannon, acquiring a rental car which had the steering wheel, mirrors, and gear shift all in the wrong locations, then getting on the highway from and on the wrong side. We came up to the roundabout and I nervously yell at my wife, “What the hell is this and what do I do?!” My wonderful lady talked me through this emergency quite finely. By the end of my second week of driving in Ireland the wrong side began to feel like the right side and roundabouts were a snap. Actually began to like ’em.
Now, I often come up to an intersection, especially 4-way stops, and pontificate that this is the perfect setting for a roundabout.
The first roundabout I encounter in the US after our Ireland trip was in Estes Park, Colorado, just east of Rocky Mountian National Park. Each entrance had large signs reading, “GO RIGHT”.
Recently, we made another trip out west and one visit was to Taos, New Mexico. In a recently constructed residential/commercial area on a major street we negotiated 3 well designed roundabouts. Also, a year ago we were in Seattle, Washington and also drove through several roundabouts. In my area of Arkansas there is only one roundabout that I’m aware of, though the university town that I live near has been using the tree planter in the middle of the residential street thing as a “traffic calming” device for several years.
Oh, by the way, after the first few roundabouts in Ireland, I began to do it the “wrong way” just like the natives–stay in the outside land all the way through. ;o)
T
Thanks, Tom. I remember a few roundabouts from our long USA trip last year, such as one in Monroe, Louisiana (the only one in town) where we spent some time, and several on the south side of Colorado Springs. Going round them the wrong way is not a problem as I have got used to ones in Italy, where they are quite common. I remember the Irish traffic from my one trip to the Republic, when everyone drove down the middle of the road however wide it was and got out of the way only at the last minute. They weren’t used to roads wide enough for cars to pass easily. But that was 40 years ago and in a rural area.
I looked up rotaries and roundabouts and Wikipedia says they are essentially the same.
I guess they are more common here in New England.
Wikipedia says they differ in that in roundabouts those within the circle have the right of way whereas in rotaries those entering have the right of way. However, this is incorrect. Here, those in the rotary have the right of way. It seems to me that if traffic was heavy and everyone had to yield to those entering, you would end up with a traffic jam.
I guess there are different terminologies in different places. Roundabouts have become popular in France since they changed the rules to give priority to those already on it, as has long been the rule here in the UK.
Apparently the road system in the Republic has greatly improved since the early 70’s ;o) Even some stretches are divided highway. Of course, the best roads are near to the major metropolitan areas. We drove plenty of country roads that were barely wide enough for two cars to pass and usually didn’t have a line down the middle. It was large trucks coming around blind curves that kept my nerves on edge at times. Best divided highways were in and around Belfast, and there weren’t too many miles of that. North or south, everyone drove with the pedal to the metal, which was fine with me, but with the change of control positions in the car and being on the “wrong” side of the road my learned emergency reactions were 180 degrees out of phase. Go me in the ditch in one instance ;o/
All in all I think roundabouts are usually a great improvement over stop lights/signs.
T
I just got back from Florida and there are tons more roundabouts than there were when I was there a few years ago, but they have know idea how to use them properly.
Dan, I’m not surprised. And before the current generation of immigrant Floridans learn how to use them they will driving in a better place, and replaced by new snowbirds who have never seen a roundabout.