# Are Roundabouts Becoming More Common in USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 21, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462 "2016-07-21T02:34:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/1 "2016-07-21T02:34:38Z")
Here in the Austin area, I’m seeing a lot more roundabouts at intersections in New neighborhoods. They took a while to get used to when I drove in Ireland, but by the time I left, I was thinking “These are great! Why doesn’t America have them?” Is this trend unique to Austin, or are roundabouts popping up in other American cities? ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/2 "2016-07-21T02:40:24Z")
idk about the USA in general, but our new developments are getting them (Central Coast CA) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/3 "2016-07-21T02:54:35Z")
My bet would be that insurance companies are paying for them to be installed. “Traffic Calming” my big encounter suited ass. Try surcharge generating money machines. If you see a backup, most times there is a rotary ahead, probably with an accident in it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/4 "2016-07-21T02:55:22Z")
I’ve seen them in various places in the western states and they seem to work okay. There were a few roundabouts put in near me in Campbell and Santa Clara, but they got changed back to 4-way stops. The thing is, we’re so used to “normal” intersections that it’s tough to switch over to a roundabout frame of mind just for that particular location. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/5 "2016-07-21T03:00:59Z")
I think they are becoming more common, but in the sort of way that zero and one are different. Personally, I hate them. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/6 "2016-07-21T03:15:44Z")
There’s one proposed to be used near me to ease the traffic for the on and off ramps on 295. They say there’s not enough room to make a cloverleaf, right now it’s difficult to make left turns onto and off the ramps for a brief period during the morning and evening rushes. It’s going to cost a fortune and cause accidents. They could put in traffic lights but that would be too easy and wouldn’t create huge traffic jams. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/7 "2016-07-21T03:30:56Z")
My town seems to like them, and it’s a quiet low-traffic area. The town maintains flower gardens in the center of them so they’re really quite pretty, and it means you don’t have to make a full stop but can just proceed based on seeing no traffic. The major problem with them is ignoramuses who have never seen a roundabout before and zip through the wrong way despite about 15 signs telling them otherwise, or assholes who don’t understand what a “yield” sign means. Note to assholes: “Do not enter” or “Wrong way” means more or less what it says, and the vehicle IN the roundabout has the right of way; YOU get to wait until it’s safe. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/8 "2016-07-21T03:38:17Z")
Probably not. A lot of cities are experimentally creating a few, but mostly without convincing evidence that they make anything better. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/9 "2016-07-21T03:48:49Z")
Part of the stimulus package of a few years ago was a rebuild of the main drag of my town. Three intersections were rebuilt into roundabouts. There was a steep learning curve among the old farts and rednecks, but everybody has adjusted to them. A sure sign that they are working is the fact that most of my kids\*\* hate\*\* them. That means they can’t bomb down the boulevard like they used to, which is a Good Thing. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/10 "2016-07-21T03:51:52Z")
Up near my rich uncle in Dallas, they have one. It’s also a low traffic area, although it seems to get a fair amount of use. When I’ve been around, I’ve not witnessed any screw ups and I quite like it. I wish we had some in east Texas. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/11 "2016-07-21T03:57:26Z")
> [@](#): > > it means you don’t have to make a full stop but can just proceed based on seeing no traffic. One of the really good things about where I live now is they have replaced a lot of the stop signs with yield signs. So you can just look and go. Which is what you’d have done anyway, but it’s legal now. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/12 "2016-07-21T03:58:56Z")
We had four of them within a few miles of my house in the Eastern suburbs of Cleveland when I grew up back in the 60s. (Though we called them traffic circles.) One of them was partially eliminated in the 70s (?). ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/13 "2016-07-21T04:26:59Z")
Yes, they’ve been a big new trend in US traffic engineering for the last 20 years. This began with an examination in the 1990s of how low the crash numbers were at European modern roundabouts compared to American intersections with similar volumes. Once engineers figured out how modern roundabouts differed from the discredited old traffic circles and rotaries, they began experimenting with them in new suburban developments and when modest-volume arterials needed to be rebuilt. The crash experience—that’s how traffic engineers judge effectiveness—has proved promising, so the word has spread through Institute for Transportation Engineering conferences and publications. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/14 "2016-07-21T04:30:42Z")
There are several new ones in my suburban area now, south of Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/15 "2016-07-21T05:38:43Z")
They’re popping up here in Alberta, and they are taking some getting used to. Most of the smaller ones on slow residential roads are easy enough, though. Good places to practice for the bigger ones. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/16 "2016-07-21T06:16:01Z")
There have been about 5,000 new roundabouts built in the U.S. since 1990: > **[Welcome roundaboutsusa.com - BlueHost.com](http://www.roundaboutsusa.com/)** > > Bluehost - Top rated web hosting provider - Free 1 click installs For blogs, shopping carts, and more. Get a free domain name, real NON-outsourced 24/7 support, and superior speed. web hosting provider php hosting cheap web hosting, Web hosting,... This article says that there is a difference between roundabouts and traffic circles: > **[Roundabout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_circle)** > > A roundabout, also known as a rotary or traffic circle, is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction. > Engineers use the term modern roundabout to refer to junctions installed after 1960 that incorporate various design rules to increase safety. Compared to stop signs, traffic signals, and earlier forms of roundabouts, modern roundabouts reduc... ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/17 "2016-07-21T06:22:37Z")
More appearing around here. I love them. Less stupidity the longer and the more of them in an area is my experience. I encounter less stupidity than on one direction stop on two sorta busy roads, 3 way stops and 4 way stop has been around for so long now and 30% of users on average still can’t do it right. People asleep at the switch while waiting for green lights has climbed out of sight with Cell phones, apps for cell phones & ear buds. I can time my speed to not get fouled up by stupid, old, never seen one before people and the cell phone and not paying attention waiting for a green is almost not existent at them here. Flowers in the middle are pretty, structures in the middle that cut off vision of the whole/parts of the roundabout intersection and/or it’s approaches are stupidly dangerous plus improper road sloping is my only objection to them. There should be at least two on every driving road test. Gimme more. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/18 "2016-07-21T06:49:39Z")
We do them wrong, so there’s that problem. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/19 "2016-07-21T12:33:44Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Probably not. A lot of cities are experimentally creating a few, but mostly without convincing evidence that they make anything better. Sorry but this is just plain wrong. They greatly reduce idling times thus reducing pollution, accidents in these intersections tend to be glancing blows thus causing much less damage. My son got hit by a guy from out of town who didn’t know what he was doing… the damage was only $1,500 and that is on an Audi Q7. My little suburb (about 80k) is, or just has installed our 100th roundabout. I purposely take a route that may be a bit out of my way when commuting to work because I know overall it will save me about 10 minutes due to being all roundabouts. The trip from my house to the interstate used to take me about 20 minutes… now it is less than 10. People adapt to them quickly. The ones I worry about most are the ones next to a regional hospital so we get a lot of people from out of town who have no idea how to navigate them. I believe we have more than any other city in the US, and most of the surrounding communities are now following our lead. p.s. I love them ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462/20 "2016-07-21T13:01:51Z")
Sorry… missed the edit window, but I know people here like cites: > [@](#): > > Carmel builds roundabouts because of their safety record, their compatibility with the environments, their aesthetics and their ability to make it easier for pedestrians and bicyclists to navigate. In Carmel, where roundabouts have replaced signals or stop signs at intersections, the number of injury accidents has been reduced by about 80 percent and the number of accidents overall by about 40 percent. Our numbers are similar to those reported by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. [Roundabouts](http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/roundabouts/topicoverview) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roundabouts-becoming-more-common-in-usa/760462.md?page=2)