-J-P-L-

Yup, it's famous and the face of entering Cape Cod. It's also a very large example of one. It's like a race track.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Roundabouts are fun on a motorcycle...

spwolf

roundabouts are great for slow to mid intersections... french love them to the point of going crazy.

in my city, one of the biggest intersections is roundabout, and it is a bit scary even for europe but traffic goes really fast through it.

IS-SV

I find roundabouts to be fun in a car (in England).

mmarshall

You can't use Dupont Circle (or most of the other circles in D.C.) as a comparison. They simply have too many stop-lights (and city streets) going in and out of them. A true roundabout, as I understand it, has only a couple of roads going in and out of it.....and no stoplights.

-J-P-L-

Yeah, the whole point of a rotary is to not have stop lights or stop signs. That's what intersections are for. A rotary is made up of access points with yield signs only and traffic within the circle never stops.

Lets Drive

iTrader: (3)

Agreed, Dupont is a unique/different type of roundabout, but it still qualifies, and is a nightmare. I'd love to see what data showed it would be the best way to manage the type of traffic and major intersections which run through that area.

I, too, prefer traditional roundabouts, but as the article discusses, and from what I've read on the topic, American drivers typically are against them, until they catch on. We have a few smaller non-controlled roundabouts in various areas in MD (though with less traffic), and they work great. I prefer them to having to come to a full and unnecessary stop.

iRock

iTrader: (12)

I think generally people don't like change so it won't be liked origionally but just like everything else once its there long enough you just get use to it. I personally like them. They are fun to drive around if there small enough and if they are huge like the one in the pic then I'm guessing it would jus seem like a regular road. A guy posted a video of him doing some drifting around a small one on a course (I think) and it looked fun. Another thing they are good for

caddyowner

The freeway exit for a local shopping area has roundabouts up the wazoo:

- Double roundabout on one side of the freeway (they should either make it a figure-8 track and sell tickets or put up law offices in the centers)

- Single roundabout on the other side of the freeway

- Multiple roundabouts on the access roads in the shopping area.

http://www.shopsatgreenoak.com/roundabouts.html

JessePS

Guess people in the US should go back to driving school if certain or all states are putting them into use.

speedflex

I drove roundabouts on my last trip to Europe and I think they are brilliant but there is a definite protocol for driving them. If you're not careful you can cause all kinds of disaster. Americans will definitely have problems adapting to them but they are astonishingly effective at keeping traffic flowing.

LexBob2

There is a huge retirement community in central Florida that has a lot of roundabouts. They do keep the traffic moving, but it can be quite an adventure when the oldsters and all of the visitors try to figure them out.

IS350jet

I like the idea. What a genius way of building a 4 way intersection without signal lights or stop signs.

Danimal

There is one that I know of downtown that works quite well; and a few down in Bloomington that all work wonderfully, I'm all for them.

Even though I usually have a low opinion of others, everyone I talk to around this neck of the woods seems to a) hate them, and b) be able to use them with no trouble.

gengar

As anyone who has lived where local government geniuses have installed a roundabout knows, they're a terrible idea because people simply can't wrap their heads around them. In one city I lived in, even some 3-5 years after they started changing some intersections to rotaries, I would still see near-accidents or nearly get into accidents myself almost every time I went through them because people just can't figure out how to yield, can't figure out which lane to be in for the exit they need, or just plain can't figure out how to stay in their lanes in the rotary.

In many areas, local governments have gone way overboard in terms of directing drivers and I'm convinced that's why drivers have so much trouble any time they have to actually make decisions for themselves.


That double roundabout makes my head spin just looking at it.