# I think it's time you stopped driving, sir. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194 "2007-06-07T23:14:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/21 "2007-06-08T13:47:51Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] Folks, there are roundabouts all over the Detroit metro area now. (You know - that little burgh across the river from Windsor? šŸ˜‰ ) You can not blame it on the guy being ā€œAmericanā€. [/QUOTE] Actually, I thought the guyā€™s nationality might explain why he was going the wrong way in the roundabout, not that he was unfamiliar with roundabouts in general. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/22 "2007-06-08T14:32:22Z")
[QUOTE=Ellef] Hey Americans, wanna see a _real_ roundabout? [http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm](http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm) Bwahahahahahaha! [/QUOTE] Is that real? What are those, parking spaces in the middle of that??? šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/23 "2007-06-08T14:41:06Z")
No, theyā€™re lanes. Iā€™ve driven across it a couple of times, and itā€™s not as bad as it looks from the air. From the road, you just experience it as a series of mini roundabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/24 "2007-06-08T14:58:22Z")
Thereā€™s roundabouts all over the D.C. area, not just Annapolis ā€“ theyā€™re actually starting to build them here now because theyā€™ve figured out that they cause traffic to slow down and behave far better than red lights, which _far_ too many people run around here. Plus thereā€™s some old circles in D.C. proper that have been there forever. I first encountered them driving in Ireland. It was fun enough driving on the left; going into the circle in what was to me the wrong direction was definitely unnerving at first. But I got the hang of it pretty quick. And when the road signs are frequently impenetrable, as they often are in Ireland, to us Americans, it did make finding my way easier since I could go around and around in circles till I figured out where I should get off! ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/25 "2007-06-08T15:02:23Z")
Yea, there are a number of traffic circles in DC proper, most notably I can think of the ones at 13 and 14 streets respectively as youā€™re about to get into downtown. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/26 "2007-06-08T15:10:15Z")
[QUOTE=whiterabbit] but I must admit that they make turning around if Iā€™ve missed where I was going fairly easy (if trafficā€™s light), just go around the circle and back onto whatever road I started on. [/QUOTE] Yep, and they also make it possible to perform impromptu Michigan Lefts, without any extra lanes or provisions for this. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/27 "2007-06-08T15:11:58Z")
Michigan Lefts? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/28 "2007-06-08T15:14:12Z")
[Michigan left - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left) (and Iā€™ve never even been to Michigan šŸ˜› ) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/29 "2007-06-08T15:54:29Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] > [@Ferret Herder](#): > > They do have them some places in the US - the Boston area, for instance. Roundabouts, not ā€œtraffic circlesā€? [/QUOTE] And in Boston I believe they are known as ā€œrotaries.ā€ All Americans arenā€™t terrified of roundabouts. I drove from London down to Salisbury and out to Stonehenge passing through several roundabouts on the way. The problem with an American driving in Britain is that in a pinch you do exactly the wrong thing, _i.e._ pull to the right to avoid trouble. On the way to Salisbury we passed a village on the left side of the road with thick, thatch roofs on several of the buildings. In order to get a picture we needed to come back to the place so I went down the road a way, found a wide spot and since there was no traffic I made a U-turn and came back on the wrong side of the road. Just the slightest upset in the routine resulted in my reverting to my usual pattern of driving on the right hand side. ---
**Author:** ![Rock\_n\_Roach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Rock\_n\_Roach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rock_n_Roach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/30 "2007-06-08T16:06:21Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] \<_ā€¦snip_\> and this old man (probably 80s) in his car is driving _the wrong way around the roundabout_. :eek: He had the classic confused deer-in-the-headlights look. \<_snipā€¦_\>. [/QUOTE] A woman dials her husbandā€™s cell phone and says, ā€œHoney, be careful on the interstate. I just heard that there is a car traveling in the wrong direction. Her husband replies, ā€œIt isnā€™t one car. Itā€™s ALL of themā€ ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/31 "2007-06-08T16:07:33Z")
[QUOTE=Lizard] There is also one in Mount Vernon, Ohio, with traffic lights regulating when cars can enter, but no lights for cars actually in the circle. [/QUOTE] Iā€™ve been stuck in that one before! well, somewhat. I have always drove through Mount Vernon on the way to Fredericktown to visit family, but never went downtown. We drove through the quickest way every time, and that always meant going around town instead of through (well, kind of). I was coming back from Snow Trails one night and went around into the circle for some reason. We couldnā€™t figure out which road was which at first because it was night and Iā€™m blind as a bat. I had to go around twice before I was sure what I wanted to do, but the third time I did it and it worked out great. Basically I didnā€™t want to stop traffic (or slow down traffic) so I could take my time, I just went around repeatedly. Fun timesā€¦ Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/32 "2007-06-08T17:17:21Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] Folks, there are roundabouts all over the Detroit metro area now. (You know - that little burgh across the river from Windsor? šŸ˜‰ ) You can not blame it on the guy being ā€œAmericanā€. [/QUOTE] I think **Quartz** is talking about Windsor, England, not Windsor, Ontario šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/33 "2007-06-08T17:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] I think **Quartz** is talking about Windsor, England, not Windsor, Ontario šŸ™‚ [/QUOTE] I thought he was talking about Ontario, too, and I was going to make the joke that we he sure it wasnā€™t a limey Brit? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/34 "2007-06-08T17:57:45Z")
I donā€™t know if itā€™s a circle, a rotary, or a roundabout, but thereā€™s one in Latham, NY (actually, now that I think about it, it might be a circleā€¦thatā€™s what itā€™s always called, anyway, ā€œThe Latham Circle.ā€) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/35 "2007-06-08T18:12:44Z")
Iā€™ve just remembered a similar situation to the OP some months ago. Not as big a memory because I was behind the guy, not in front. Coming into [this](http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=52.025955~1.254751&style=a&lvl=18&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=11737502&encType=1) junction from the north-east (note UK, drive on left and round the junction clockwise!), he turned the wrong way around the fairly sharp and obvious angle. I hit my horn, and saw him brake hard. If heā€™d headed up to join the main road it was going to be nasty, and even if heā€™d continued round the roundabout he could have met traffic doing 50mph. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194/36 "2007-06-08T18:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=Ellef] Hey Americans, wanna see a _real_ roundabout? [http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm](http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm) Bwahahahahahaha! [/QUOTE] So, if there are enough cars in that thing, does it summon a demon from beyond the gates of Hell? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-its-time-you-stopped-driving-sir/407194.md?page=1)