Video description:
Roundabouts - the circular intersections seen all over Europe and elsewhere in the world - are said to be far safer than traffic lights. Research shows they reduce crashes, clear up congestion and save cities quite a bit of money. They have a heritage in the U.S., but America has a fraction of the roundabouts that far smaller countries like France, Spain and the United Kingdom have. But there are some states that are adopting them, and one small town in particular: Carmel, Indiana. The people of Carmel love their roundabouts and the mayor credits them with helping revitalize his city. So are they all they’re cracked up to be? And if so, why hasn’t the U.S. adopted them?
My girlfriend’s parents are from small rural communities and still live in one. Just last weekend we got to hear all about how there was a roundabout installed, and “traffic is going to be messed up” and “it is so confusing” and “why can’t we just have the stop sign back?”.
No amount of telling them facts to the contrary will change their opinion because they’re also of the generation that thinks: if this isn’t how we’ve always done it, it must be wrong, because we’ve always been the best.
“We don’t want it to change because that is how it was and if you change it then it won’t be that, that’s why we can’t change it”
Small town folk when they approach a round about:
One of our suburbs here in the Midwest has the most roundabouts of any US city, and they’re adding them to the suburb I live in and others relatively rapidly. Even replacing a “Michigan left” that everyone hates with one soon (wish they’d done it right the first time!).
People still complain about them ALL the time but I don’t care, I like them and the intersections where they’ve been added don’t back up like the four-ways used to (often BADLY). Bring ‘em! But also, learn how to use them people, it’s not that hard: if you’re already inside the roundabout you have the right of way until you leave. May be nuances with multiple lanes and such but it’s mostly ONE RULE!
I think governments should follow the stats but I do see a lot of older people ‘stuck’ at traffic circles. There should be more public outreach to help them learn the new rules and to communicate proper order of operations to drivers—especially for traffic circles with a mix of yield and stop signs and with multiple lanes.
Do you not have an equivalent of “the highway code” or “rules of the road” etc that’s regularly updated and distributed or frequently mentioned in the press to keep people informed of regulatory changes?
If we do I’ve not seen it publicized enough to be visible at all:) I’ve lived in several US states and the only time I remember public service info about driving rules updating was when they implemented rules where you couldn’t drive holding your phone back in the early 2000’s. We take a written and road test to get a license initially but afaik they don’t send out updates or remind people about the rules after that point—even when you renew.
We’ll get info on changes on radio stations and streaming service ads here in Ireland, also updates to any changes on the annual roadworthiness test, I’ll let you look up “Irish road safety advert” on YouTube, they’re quite graphic.
Plus they’re fun. Hard to contain the ‘wheeeee!’ when you hit those round bois.
We have several in my area and they’re becoming more popular, but people have no idea how to navigate them, even when there are signs that say what to do. People will enter the circle and then slow down and sometimes stop to let someone into the circle. Some people don’t bother checking to see if it’s clear for them to enter the circle. I’ve come close to several accidents because someone decided to enter the circle without looking. Yeah, it just takes familiarity, but these are circles to enter and exit an interstate in a residential area so the most of the people using it should be familiar by now. It’s been several years since the circles were installed.
Mostly because we hate calling them “roundabouts”.
In some parts, we refuse to use the term. It’s “rotary” or “traffic circle”.
The reason they’re safer is that they’re so clearly dangerous that everyone using one has to slow the fuck down to use them. That’s also the only reason they’re usable, since they can indefinitely starve drivers - their core logic is not compatible with the traffic algorithm. Inhate roundabouts and I will die on this hill.
How would you explain roundabouts having consistently better throughput, even when compared to traffic lights?
You’ll probably die while being t-boned by someone else sharing the same view as you, it’s strange that your country’s road safety record is far worse than any country that has been using roundabouts for decades.
They are confusing and subvert the public discourse with socialism.
Communists don’t have circles
Agreed. We don’t need any COMMUNIST circles! They look like the sickle from that one flag! I want my good ole’ community-funded stop lights. The ones made for the public good, not whatever COMMUNISM stands for!
You may want to learn about why public roads exist in the first place, my dude
