Weird. Anyone else have trouble?
Anyway, it’s not crucial. It does itself also link to this, if anyone wanted to see official US use of the term ‘roundabout’.
All in all, it would just be better if bec never comes to Saudi Arabia.
Very odd. As I say, this is reversing a trend I’ve seen in New Jersey, with traffic circles being retired over the past couple of decades. And I can testify that rotaries in Massachusetts are misunderstood and abused, and ought to be eliminated. Maybe the folks in Michigan, California* and elsewhere are trainable and well-behaved.
*For all the flak California drivers get, they are, in my experience, the ones who are most likely to actually obey traffic regulations and allow others the right of way when they’re supposed to get it. Going from the arrogance and disregard of traffic laws to the orderliness of California is a weird experience.
They just added a small circle on Rt 520 in Lincroft for Brookdale Community College. The old, old circle for 33/34 is still exisitant in Farmingdale/Howell. It was recently reworked, this caused some confusion for two weeks or so. The Clifton Circle is still around. The Asbury Circle for Rt 35 & Rt 66 still works fine. The Lakehurst Circle is still going strong and works well. I have used four of these in the last week. I live in Central Monmouth County and I grew up in the same area.
I have used the Flemington Circle & Manasquan Circle in Wall Township. The Eatontown and Freehold circles are now thankfully gone, they had stopped working due to being overloaded.
You might be interested in this incomplete wiki list.
Jim
Interesting list. Note all the “defuncts”, though – these include the ones I’m familiar with. I’m very much surprised at how few of them have been eliminated – I would have thought the proportion was higher.
From your link, What Exit?
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_traffic_circles_in_New_Jersey
…and linkede to it is this:
One way to visualise how to use a roundabout is like this:
Forget the roundabout, and imagine you are coming to a T-intersection, and you are on the vertical stroke of the T, facing a give way / yield sign. For Americans, imagine you are making a right turn, and there is traffic coming from your left. You yield right of way to that traffic. This comes naturally to you. Now, the traffic that is on the opposing road may have joined that road a hundred miles away, 500 yards away, or just come out of a driveway 20 feet away - it doesn’t matter. It’s traffic on the main road, and you are waiting at a yield sign for it. Now imagine that main road is curved. Still easy to visualise, and makes no difference. Imagine further that the road is curved so much it’s a small circle, and the places the other cars may have entered are the other roads leading off the roundabout. Those roads are immaterial to you. The fact that the cars are ON the roundabout is all you need to think about. Another way is to forget the “city block” mentality, and imagine you are at a Pi shaped intersection, turning right from the right leg of the Pi. The left leg is only a few feet away. This would be an uncommon intersection, but you would approach it naturally, and cars turning right from the left leg would have right of way over you. It’s the same as a roundabout, only the main road on the Pi is straight rather than circular. But it’s the same thing.
Enter a roundabout as you would a T-intersection. Don’t think of the roundabout itself as one intersection, but as many, and think of the circular part as its own independent road. You’ll have no problems. In fact, if a roundabout was ten miles in diameter, you wouldn’t even know it was a roundabout, but you’d instinctively use it perfectly. Don’t be distracted by the fact that it’s small and you can see the other entrances.
Forget the roundabout’s other “tentacles”. You are approaching a T-intersection. Give way
Yeah, but the New England motto is “Death Before Yielding!”
Well as I mentioned, many were replaced, but the ones left, still work well and they are now adding new ones. In fact, I should probably break down and update the Wiki articles a little.
If **Hal Briston ** checks in, I am pretty sure there are several circles still left in his area. I recall one near the Columbus Flea Market. I might be wrong.
Jim
OR Qatar or Bahrain or Dubai or Abu Dhabi etc.etc.
Don’t get me wrong. I like the roundabouts themselves. It’s the people trying to bash into me while I’m using them that I’m pitting. The single lane ones deep in the residential areas are a joy, and when I lived in Davis and bicycled everywhere they were the best.
It’s these specific two lane ones that I cannot avoid that are the trouble. They’ve basically taken a 4 way stop, plopped an island in the middle, drew the lines and made the signs. As such, signaling to the people that most often are the potential bashes is really hard, as they are on what used to be a “corner” so those two entrance/exits are right beside one another. If I went by the rule, “don’t worry about people getting ready to enter, they must yield to you” I’d be hit daily.
Even worse, they’re putting these near schools first. I think it is a very bad idea to put a brand new (to the drivers here) type of intersection where children need to cross the street. I understand the concept, as they are in theory a good type to have for places that are mostly deserted and busy only a couple times a day, but yeesh, put them other places first so people can get used to them.
The Economist carried a story on this along with the cites about reduction in injuries.
If people can’t use the 4 way stops, why not introduce the roundabout?
I twitch everytime I hear the word ‘roundabout’. I can’t help it; it’s involuntary.
And I like rotaries. Now. My first time driving in one was pure hell…I went around completely 3 times and had people honking twice. I was one of those idiot drivers once! But now I’m a pro, and it bugs me too when people slam their brakes on and peer to the left, just waiting for some invisible car to come flying around.