# What do you think of this new "turbo roundabout"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 17, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698 "2024-02-17T13:21:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/81 "2024-02-20T20:25:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> Anyone who stopped in the rotary to allow another car to enter would be dragged from their car and pummeled. -
Wouldn’t that require stopping in the rotary?
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/82 "2024-02-20T20:27:47Z")
I assumed the pummeler was already stopped behind the pummelee.
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/83 "2024-02-20T22:21:15Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> We call all of 'em rotaries in New England, and common consensus is that cars entering the rotary yield to cars already in the rotary.
There’s a difference between common usage and technical usage. In New England, the common usage is _rotary_ for any circular intersection. Traffic engineers use _rotary_ to mean old (built before the 1960s) large circular intersections. The technical term for newer, smaller circles (in the US built since 1990†) is _roundabout_. There are also _traffic calming circles_ which are smaller than roundabouts.
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> I have no idea what the official rule is, but in daily practice, cars entering yield to cars already inside the rotary.
There are rotaries that still have Stop or Yield signs pointing at the traffic in the circular road. The few I can think of off-hand are in Canada, although I’m sure there are some in the US.
† The modern roundabout was developed in 1966, but none were built in the US until 1990. But they weren’t built in significant numbers‡ in the US until around 2003, so Europe and certain other places have about a 30-year head start on building them. Which is the main reason they’re much more common in western Europe. But the US is not the slowest country to adopt them. There were none in Japan until around 2013.
‡ Currently, there are something like 600 roundabouts built in the US every year with a total of over 10,000 in the entire country.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/84 "2024-02-21T10:42:48Z")
In Upstate New York where I’m from, they’re called _traffic circles_. My hometown has one, the Latham Traffic Circle, at coordinates 42.74814, -73.76097. The traffic circle is close to the geographic center of Latham.
The wiki page for it is titled Latham Circle, but when I lived there it was called Latham Traffic Circle. It was built in 1934.
> **[Latham Circle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latham_Circle)**
>
> The Latham Circle is the intersection of U.S. Route 9 (US 9) and New York State Route 2 (NY 2) within the town of Colonie, New York in Albany County.
> The circle is a roundabout. US 9 travels north–south under the circle while one-way access roads on either side carry traffic to the circle for connection to NY 2, which travels east–west.
> The circle takes the name from the hamlet of Latham, of which the circle is close to the exact center.
> The circle was originally built as a large traffic circ...
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/85 "2024-02-21T16:00:46Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#):
>
> Officials in my county are now receiving complaints from local grain farmers who say a new roundabout at a rural intersection was constructed too small for their big rigs to navigate.
There was a fad for awhile to put roundabouts at the bottom of offramps from semi-rural interstates. Connect the access road, the crossover/crossunder, and the on/off ramps all with one roundabout. Sounds great.
Except they’re too small in radius for most semis. Trucks get high centered, or tipped over, or … when they drag the trailer van partly or fully over the central island. Oops.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/86 "2024-02-22T03:41:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> > [@Red\_Wiggler](#):
> >
> > Officials in my county are now receiving complaints from local grain farmers who say a new roundabout at a rural intersection was constructed too small for their big rigs to navigate.
>
> There was a fad for awhile to put roundabouts at the bottom of offramps from semi-rural interstates. Connect the access road, the crossover/crossunder, and the on/off ramps all with one roundabout. Sounds great.
>
> Except they’re too small in radius for most semis.
Makes you wonder when the last time was the traffic engineering manual for the roundabouts was updated… (and really, if you don’t have the footprint, don’t try to shove one in).
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### Author:  [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/87 "2024-02-22T11:44:56Z")
Try this roundabout for size:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKYXE-hrlXM)
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/88 "2024-02-22T14:29:11Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#):
>
> (and really, if you don’t have the footprint, don’t try to shove one in).
That’s really the problem. The original roads were set up in the 1950s & 1960s for much shorter vehicles and less traffic. So they try the roundabout to ease both the turn radius and the congestion problems. But they can’t / won’t obtain the extra land to build it big enough. Shoe-horning ensues.
Which can be made to work if you just pave the whole thing flat and define the circle with paint. But if anyone tries the raised mound in the middle with curbs and all, that’s when the trouble begins. And of course every locale likes to decorate those raised mounds with shrubs, or a sign for the city, or whatever. Until about the 10th time it gets plowed under by a wayward truck.
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### Author:  [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/89 "2024-02-22T14:54:58Z")
> [@Riemann](#):
>
> This roundabout is like democracy, it’s great if everyone is smart and paying attention. That’s why it wouldn’t work well in America.
This is great. May I quote you?
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/90 "2024-02-22T15:11:57Z")
Sure, but it’s probably more clever-sounding than insightful. I’m not sure we have a stellar voting record in the UK recently.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/91 "2024-02-22T16:38:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> And of course every locale likes to decorate those raised mounds with shrubs, or a sign for the city, or whatever
My fave was one back home in PR in Guaynabo city, in front if their transportation museum, they put an old GA airplane on a pedestal. Then came Hurricane Maria and of course that sucker lifted right off the attachments (then smashed into the parking lot across the roadway). And of course as soon as someone discarded another one, up it went, again.
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/92 "2024-02-22T17:00:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Which can be made to work if you just pave the whole thing flat and define the circle with paint. But if anyone tries the raised mound in the middle with curbs and all, that’s when the trouble begins.
What may work in those spots is a mini-roundabout. Painted center islands for mini-roundabouts is something they do in the UK, but generally won’t work in the US. That’s mostly because of the US’s inexperience with roundabouts. Far too many drivers would ignore the painted circle and drive straight through.
Instead, pretty much all American mini-roundabouts have a raised truck apron center. There’s no center island with shrubbery or artwork. The curbs on them are mountable, but you really don’t want to take your car over them, at least not at anything more than about 5 mph. They’re intended for the rear wheels of large vehicles to go over.
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### Author:  [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/93 "2024-02-22T17:46:12Z")
The ‘magic roundabout’ at Hemel Hempstead [England] had two countercirculating lanes of traffic and smaller satellite mini-roundabouts around the edge of it. The design has been changed several times over the years, in an effort to improve it.
> **[Magic Roundabout (Hemel Hempstead)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Hemel_Hempstead))**
>
> "The Magic Roundabout" in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, is the familiar name given to the Plough Roundabout. The familiar name comes from the children's television programme, and is also used for a similar junction in Swindon, the M40 junction in Denham, and the Magic Roundabout in Colchester. The official name relates to a former public house, called The Plough Inn, which was between the junction of what is now Selden Hill and St Albans Road. It has also been known as the Moor End ...
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/94 "2024-02-22T17:47:46Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> Instead, pretty much all American mini-roundabouts have a raised truck apron center.
Which every now and then provides entertainment as an oblivious car driver barrels through and ski jumps themselves off the raised center.
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### Author:  [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/95 "2024-02-23T23:38:12Z")
That looks like a normal roundabout that you’re find on a dual carriageway or motorway? It’s not something complicated like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kafx_GGHqVg).
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-new-turbo-roundabout/997698/96 "2024-02-24T17:31:06Z")
In the UK, on larger, busier roundabouts, there are often traffic light as well.
[Here](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.9282558,-0.2211286,3a,75y,91.37h,92.02t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRvBtMV8EQyMxlRmpliC47A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)for example. (can’t imbed that link for some reason)
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