Ever driven a "round about" ?

DavezWife · August 2011

we haven't had them here in MN, but they're starting to creep up here and there. It's HYSTERICAL to watch people try to navigate them, OMG. It's sooooo foreign and weird for them. (MN is notorious for really polite drivers - legend dictates if you get stuck at a 4-way stop sign all at once, you'll spend an hour there waving to eachother "you go!" "no, YOU go" "no really, I insist, YOU go" .... )

We drove them quite a bit in other countries... (try THAT not only going opposite sides, but with the stick shift ON the dash ON the left side!! lol) but it's just so funny to watch people navigate them here.

MrsKolasa · August 2011

We have 2 in B-town and they are so annoying for the exact reason that you stated... You will sit at that yield sign foreeeever waving each other through but no one goes.

irishdo · August 2011

Like a circle? They are everywhere in NJ, where I grew up. It is a way a life. There is no stopping....you just GO! It is pretty amusing, and annoying to watch out of state drivers navigate.

marcuej · August 2011

Ha! Round abouts always remind me of National Lampoon's European Vacation. "Hey kids, look there's Big Ben". I think I'm about due to watch that movie again!

I always feel like they aren't very clearly marked so everyone gets a little nervous about going when it's their turn.

kme930 · August 2011

We've traveled a bunch so we have encountered them a fair amount. When we went to Australia in 2008, MH was driving (left side, stick shift fun!) and in a fit of euphoria related to the funny nicknames Aussies use for things, he decided that Aussies should refer to roundabouts as "roundies." Now he can't drive around one without talking about roundies for hours. Sheesh!

But yes, I can imagine in the midwest they would seem very foreign and weird!

sommerrayne · August 2011

LOL

They're all over out here but when I was back in St Cloud, the new SuperWalmart had one at their exit (imagine THAT cluster!) and they had about 17 instructional signs about the store, parking lot, round-about entrance, etc....

It was very Walmartian....

AlissaCell701 · August 2011

Umm GO to MA. There are a million roteries in Mass it's one of the only states that still has them I think. The biggest one is down on the cape after you go ober the Borne Bridge and NOBODY can drive it, even though most have been going down to the Cape for years!

browneyedgrl4282 · August 2011

NJ has a TON Of them! I have to laugh when people not from NJ drive in them and they have NO clue what to do!

OrangeSmoke · August 2011

browneyedgrl4282:
NJ has a TON Of them! I have to laugh when people not from NJ drive in them and they have NO clue what to do!

What about a jug handle? Those blew my mind when I moved to NJ.... what? you have to make a right to make a left? HUH????

OscarQ · August 2011

Yes! We got one near where I live recently - I can only think of maybe two others in the entire county - and it took awhile for people to get it down.

I drive in NJ enough that I'm familiar with them - although the ones at larger intersections still make me nervous. We stayed near the Arc de Triomphe round about in Paris and that was totally insane!

Mouseygail · August 2011

I HATE them, but traffic planners love them and they are making a huge resurgence, so brace yourselves everyone! They are starting to pop up everywhere!

naflmj · August 2011

They are every where here...I had one in my drivinug test. Then again, Boston is known for their bad drivers.

superned · August 2011

AlissaCell701:
Umm GO to MA. There are a million roteries in Mass it's one of the only states that still has them I think. The biggest one is down on the cape after you go ober the Borne Bridge and NOBODY can drive it, even though most have been going down to the Cape for years!

I can think of a whole bunch here in Maine too - and we don't even have that much traffic!

sommerrayne · August 2011

AlissaCell701:

Umm GO to MA. There are a million roteries in Mass it's one of the only states that still has them I think. The biggest one is down on the cape after you go ober the Borne Bridge and NOBODY can drive it, even though most have been going down to the Cape for years!

Isn't this why people from Maine call drivers from Mass Massholes? LOL

CJ71903 · August 2011

We have one here and I agree - people just don't know how to drive them. I used to live in the Twin Cities. At least you guys get to make legal U-Turns!

OrangeSmoke · August 2011

Mouseygail:
I HATE them, but traffic planners love them and they are making a huge resurgence, so brace yourselves everyone! They are starting to pop up everywhere!

Why? What's the advantage of a loop-de-loop (what I used to call them as a kid)?

and total lol at the title of "traffic planner".

Carrie25 · August 2011

We have some in the Phoenix area too...more in the suburbs. They are actually putting them in more and more in light traffic areas where a light isn't really needed. People are stupid when they encounter one!

superned · August 2011

sommerrayne:
AlissaCell701:

Umm GO to MA. There are a million roteries in Mass it's one of the only states that still has them I think. The biggest one is down on the cape after you go ober the Borne Bridge and NOBODY can drive it, even though most have been going down to the Cape for years!

Isn't this why people from Maine call drivers from Mass Massholes? LOL

There are a many reasons that we use that term for anyone driving a car with Massachusetts plates. I have a number of friends from Massachusetts - dear friends who are lovely and law-abiding in real life - and I wouldn't want to drive with any of them!

charmcitygirl · August 2011

DC is kind of known for them! They just add the chaos of DC driving and help people to get (even more) lost. There are many that have up to 8 entry and exit points from the circle. Or ones that you can drive on the inside or outside of the circle, depending on which exit you want to take.

DC is like a grid - numbered streets go north/south, lettered streets go east/west and all the state streets go diagonally and all meet in the middle at the Capitol. It was a good plan on paper, but whoa! Its a heck of a city to drive in!

Mrs.Reem · August 2011

They're new here too, popping up in the newer high end neighborhoods, so you'll see 3 snooty moms in their lexus SUV's, talking on their cell phones with kids screaming in the back as they try to navigate this "foreign concept" of driving. Some of they you might see take a few passes.

"Look kids. Parliament. Big Ben."

Dragonfly1226 · August 2011

Haha - we have them in NJ where I used to live and in MA. Drivers are not known for being polite at all in either place so I have had the opposite problem

I would love to see it done MN style!

laura&dan05 · August 2011

They are all over the place around me and I drive through them daily. I'm amazed when I approcah them how confused people are by such a simple concept.

browneyedgrl4282 · August 2011

OrangeSmoke:
browneyedgrl4282:
NJ has a TON Of them! I have to laugh when people not from NJ drive in them and they have NO clue what to do!

What about a jug handle? Those blew my mind when I moved to NJ.... what? you have to make a right to make a left? HUH????

LMFAO!!!! Where I grew up there were jug handles every few miles!

hannah&ben · August 2011

I hadn't seen one outside of Europe until the university that I went to/worked at put one in to deal with the massive traffic clog after they put in a huge sports arena. It helped a TON (once everyone got the hang of it

OscarQ · August 2011

OrangeSmoke:

Mouseygail:
I HATE them, but traffic planners love them and they are making a huge resurgence, so brace yourselves everyone! They are starting to pop up everywhere!

Why? What's the advantage of a loop-de-loop (what I used to call them as a kid)?

and total lol at the title of "traffic planner".

So my geek flag is flying high - I love thinking about traffic planning. Apparently the theory is that since traffic has the ability to flow constantly that circles are better at reducing congestion than a normal intersection with traffic lights.

I was just reading an article last night about a new traffic concept (I warned you about the geek flag) and how it involves traffic criss-crossing and means we'd be briefly driving on the left side of the road. It's supposed to be even more efficient than round abouts.

laura1 · August 2011

As others said, they are all over the place around here. I don't agree with the traffic planners though, but maybe because I drive with other "Massholes." There was one near my old house that was huge, and if you didn't just go, you would never get through it. I felt like I was taking my life in my hands every time - it was just a free for all!

We have 2 right near our new house - they are a bit more manageable, since people all seem to be going the same way for the most part. But if you try to get off at a different "exit" watch out!

Mouseygail · August 2011

OscarQ:
OrangeSmoke:

Mouseygail:
I HATE them, but traffic planners love them and they are making a huge resurgence, so brace yourselves everyone! They are starting to pop up everywhere!

Why? What's the advantage of a loop-de-loop (what I used to call them as a kid)?

and total lol at the title of "traffic planner".

So my geek flag is flying high - I love thinking about traffic planning. Apparently the theory is that since traffic has the ability to flow constantly that circles are better at reducing congestion than a normal intersection with traffic lights.

I was just reading an article last night about a new traffic concept (I warned you about the geek flag) and how it involves traffic criss-crossing and means we'd be briefly driving on the left side of the road. It's supposed to be even more efficient than round abouts.

yeah, what she said Wink

Marc's Mrs. · August 2011

I drive through 3 two lane roundabouts on my way to drop off DD at daycare every AM and again on the way home. You can tell the newbies by the length of time they sit waiting to enter.

MayDayGirl · August 2011

I HATE the round about at minehaha falls with so many bikers and runners I always almost kill someone!!! I think they are dangerous!

Christakim · August 2011

All I can think of is that super weird one in CR we had to go through, but yes, we have them in Maine, and its a big clusterf#$%.

dejavu · August 2011

yep! i also find that they are called different things depending on the country/region. Around here they are called a rotary. In Europe we found out they called them a roundabout, and it appears in other parts of the country they are traffic circles. But they all mean the same thing, and most people I find tend to be morons when it comes to driving in them.

pamela-matt · August 2011

We have tons here and it is funny to watch people navigate. What is even funnier is the multi-lane rotaries...no one knows where to go As to why the are becoming more popular, i think that it keeps traffic moving better (once people learn to use them).

itsmevkb · August 2011

We have some here in Wisconsin and some I find fine but when they have a ton of streets shooting off of them I think people get easily confused as to which lane they need to be in and how to exactly get off on the street they want.

I've heard that they help relieve congestion (although we have one here which people have to get through to get to an expressway entrance ramp and during rush hour it's a total joke, the traffic is at a complete stop so I actually think light would have better there) but traffic planners also like them because when there are accidents they tend to be less sever. So, less injuries and less property damage because everyone slows down to enter the roundabout and there isn't t-boning of cars, etc.

soccerwife · August 2011

My husband is from London. We have very few roundabouts here, but when we do drive in/through one, he gets really frustrated that Americans always f*ck it up. To him, they're second nature. To Americans, it's reason to freeze and panic.

Happycouple · August 2011

ha--I used to live in Ireland when I was growing up so when they put one up near my highschool when I was about 21 , I knew what to do since they had a lot of them in Ireland. Everyone else...not so much. People put up signs in the middle of the roundabout that said "what the heck is this??" etc. it was pretty funny

smilee · August 2011

I have 2 on my commute to work. I easily almost get smashed into about 5 times a week. One time a few years ago, I did get in an accident at oe on the way to work. Good times.

Oh- and here in rude NY, no one does the "no, you go" they just keep going an cut you off. lol

mommyof4boys · August 2011

OrangeSmoke:
browneyedgrl4282:
NJ has a TON Of them! I have to laugh when people not from NJ drive in them and they have NO clue what to do!

What about a jug handle? Those blew my mind when I moved to NJ.... what? you have to make a right to make a left? HUH????

Both! I got lost the first time I came here to visit DH. I was living in East Stroudsburg at the time and came to surprise him for his birthday. I was the one surprised when I got lost and had to call him for help

DavezWife · August 2011

Christakim:
All I can think of is that super weird one in CR we had to go through, but yes, we have them in Maine, and its a big clusterf#$%.

OMG, like the 10000 times it took us to go around, get off on that next ramp, sit, wait, OMGTHEREWASTHEMERCADOTURNAROUND... lol... that place was a hoot!

There's ones we saw in Vietnam where they are 6-8 "lanes" deep, and everything from huge trucks to ox-drawn carriages navigate them. He who biggest wins. lol.

BoilerSuz · August 2011

Our suburb has replaced most of the major intersections with roundabouts. Hilarious is an understatement. I actually find myself asking people if they know how a roundabout works when giving directions to our house. I laugh watching people creep and stop trying to go through.

skoorbnibor · August 2011

NJ has many and PA has some. I am very skilled at driving them, and I get road rage when others aren't.

I might need counseling for it!

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