It's weird but somewhere along the line in the past few years, the state of Pennsylvania decided that they want to put roundabouts/traffic circles all over the place, each time I go somewhere in this state it seems like a new one has sprung up out of nowhere. Just within 5 miles of my house I now hit 3 of them.

They are great...IF people could figure out how they work but it's not seeming to go that way. I DO like not having to stop at a red light or stop sign.

I see people approaching them and STOP and sit there when there is NO ONE EVEN IN THE CIRCLE. Others will BLAST their way in when others are already in there and have the right-of-way. Still others will STOP right in the circle and allow people in like they are being nice and good drivers.

It all drives me crazy! It's not that hard to figure out that you KEEP GOING no one is coming and YOU WAIT if someone is and wait your turn to enter.

They also seem to make them here in PA very small which seems like it would be tough to get an 18 wheeler or a large fire truck through.

Do any of you have traffic circle woes?

We have a few in Houston around the museum district and most, not all, but most people seem to handle them fairly well.

When I was stationed in England, those were the biggest issue when learning to drive there. Once you get the hang of them, they are quite easy and IMHO, better than most traffic situations. But back then I knew that in the US they wouldn't work. Too many drivers out there that think the rules of the road are more like suggestions.

We have some here, they are significantly better than 4 way stops for traffic flow, the thing is, the same folks that can't manage a roundabout are the same ones sitting at a 4 way and can't move because they can't remember the rules on who's turn it is...

We need German like licensing and vehicle inspection standards here. Too many cars and too little skill here. Too many idiots driving big cars and trucks here.

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Originally posted by PASig:
It's weird but somewhere along the line in the past few years, the state of Pennsylvania decided that they want to put roundabouts/traffic circles all over the place, each time I go somewhere in this state it seems like a new one has sprung up out of nowhere. Just within 5 miles of my house I now hit 3 of them.

They started replacing four-way stops with those around here starting about maybe ten years ago?

They do significantly reduce traffic congestion. Plus, when traffic is light, they're hella fun to drive through fast-ish

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Originally posted by PASig:
They are great...IF people could figure out how they work but it's not seeming to go that way.

Give it time. People will eventually get it. Most of them, anyway. The ones that treat yield signs like stop signs of course never will.

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Originally posted by PASig:
Do any of you have traffic circle woes?

One of the first traffic circles on my daily commute had a problem, apparently. My guess is people were being way too confident about which would reach a circle first and, I assume, collisions were resulting. (I never saw any.) So on two approaches to that circle they put up barriers so you couldn't see traffic approaching the circle from the left for about a hundred yards or so--until you got w/in about two or three car-lengths of the circle. This forced people to slow down as they approached the circle.

When I first got my license in 1970 there were a lot of traffic circles here, but mostly in the southern part of the state where I live.
For a while they seemed to be going away but now I'm seeing them pop up again. The new ones seem to be set up better, I think a lot bigger radius which gives you more time to make a lane change. I am also seeing more of them with stop and yield signs when the earlier ones did not have.

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Originally posted by Edmond:
We need German like licensing and vehicle inspection standards here. Too many cars and too little skill here. Too many idiots driving big cars and trucks here.

That would take 50% of the drivers off the road in the USA!

I do sometimes wonder just how some of these people got an actual driver's license. Many of them seem either far too terrified to drive or just too clueless.

The problem with roundabouts is they rely on YIELD signs which most people already don't know how to handle so they just treat them light STOP signs.

I have noticed a significant increase in them but I don’t really mind the roundabouts. You do need to be a bit more wary when using them, but overall I think they are ok.

They are getting more of them around here . They have their place but not in every situation . A lot of people are still clueless about what to do when they roll up on one .

Northeast Ohio has its far share, particularly the city of Green. I believe 3 on Massillon Rd., more on Rt. 619. Canton has them too. The worst part is the idiots who have no clue how to drive through them and what yield means.

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Originally posted by PASig:

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Originally posted by Edmond:

We need German like licensing and vehicle inspection standards here. Too many cars and too little skill here. Too many idiots driving big cars and trucks here.

That would take 50% of the drivers off the road in the USA!

They are all in on them here.
Problems:
For some reason, they build a mound in the middle of it, restricting your vision as to who is on the other side of it.
Many of ours are multi lane and people get confused and want to change lanes in the middle of them. Crashes ensue!
They are touted as being easier to maintain (no signal lights to upkeep) move traffic more efficiently and easier to remove snow from.
If I can, I avoid them. Especially on my motorcycle.

Another benefit is they reduce the force of collisions. In a traditional situation you'd be looking at cars colliding at 90 degrees. With roundabouts they will be more than likely off axis and will be more like glancing blows. Should save some lives.

The State of Kansas has built some out in the middle of nowhere. Two small state highways intersect in a cornfield and bam there’s a roundabout. Seems a very strange choice. The result is that you almost never have to yield due to low traffic volumes. Not really sure what problem they were trying to solve with these.

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Originally posted by Skull Leader:
Another benefit is they reduce the force of collisions. In a traditional situation you'd be looking at cars colliding at 90 degrees. With roundabouts they will be more than likely off axis and will be more like glancing blows. Should save some lives.

It depends on how they are designed. The first two built in Wickenburg had entering traffic coming in at almost 90 degrees. Bad news. The third one forced entering traffic to curve around to the left before coming back right to enter the circle at a tangent. Much better. There are still the perpetual problems of people who just flat out stop before entering an empty roundabout, or who stop in the middle of one to permit traffic to enter. It is not hard people, there is only one rule (in the absence of signals). Traffic already in the roundabout has the right of way.

7 Circle Roundabout

Your first thought upon seeing Swindon's 'magic roundabout' might be: man, the Brits have really lost the plot lately. But this thing—which is actually seven roundabouts in one—has been working for 60 years.

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Originally posted by HRK:
7 Circle Roundabout

Your first thought upon seeing Swindon's 'magic roundabout' might be: man, the Brits have really lost the plot lately. But this thing—which is actually seven roundabouts in one—has been working for 60 years.

Holy Moly

Most Americans would turn that in a giant pileup in about 1.5 minutes

That ONLY works because of the very British mentality of "the queue" and waiting your turn. We Americans are far too impatient and having a "ME FIRST!" attitude to ever see that thing work.

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Originally posted by HRK:

7 Circle Roundabout

I would never be able to find my way out of there.