OMFG I [bold]HATE[/bold] roundabouts!!!!!

This is not therapy OP. This is the Datalounge.

You sound spineless. Stay home. It appears that your meds need adjusting.

Driving is terrifying.

Seek help

What a bold statement, OP.

Roundabout is a great song OP. I agree though, no one follows the rules. It's always ME FIRST, above all else.

[quote] Takes me 10-15 minutes to recover my equilibrium after the encounter.

Just how fast do you take those curves, OP?

Also... MARY!!!!

Stop driving you freak! You're a public menace! Stop driving and shut the fuck up.

It's a lot easier to drive to the liquor store when you're SOBER, dear.

Funny actually that the drunkest state probably has the most of them.

I have this conspiracy theory that there are people who spend their day on roundabouts just so they can harass and tailgate and beep at people. If I drove through one at 3am in a blizzard, someone would get thisclose behind me and lay on their horn.

OP, if Roundabouts give you the heebie-jeebies, I highly recommend you do NOT travel outside the highways and byways of most industrialized Nations in the World. Sheesh- never have I had my heart in my throat more then when gripping my seat as an INSANE taxi/uber-driver navigated us throughout the chaos of Panama City streets and Traffic! And yes, I know Panama in general is considered to be more industrialized, but 100,000 Vehicles flagrantly ignoring traffic laws, lights, and cops say otherwise.

Do you also spin out at revolving doors and escalators OP?

Jesus, do you also have issues making left-hand turns?

too stupid to figure it out.

I went on a road trip with a friend. I was driving most of the time. My friend could not handle roundabouts. He wanted to get out of / exit the roundabout at the first opportunity. E.g., he couldn't stay inside the roundabout long enough to go straight. We'd end up turning right just because he wanted to get out of the roundabout.

It was the opposite of "European Vacation," where Chevy Chase / dad Clark stayed in the roundabout forever, going in circles, and could not get out of the roundabout.

Yo, Dutchie/R7, you're so right; actually, when I REGAINED MY EQUILIBRIUM, I MARY!'d my own damn self.

R1, spoken like a true R1.

R4, I *am* in therapy; just had a session early this morning. Sadly, my therapist and I were so busy working through my fear and grief about the impending death of my Dad, we totally forgot to address my hatred of roundabouts.

I vote ‘Vivian Vance’

We used to have one not far from my home. Navigating it was a right of passage when my Mom would let me drive myself to my part-time job when I had my learners' permit. I kinda miss them.

American In Paris (once) here: I was driving and somehow got stuck in the massive roundabout around the Arc d'Triomphe. It took me at least four orbits to get out (and I was driving a manual transmission). I thought it was kinda fun, but then I was living in New England at the time and a) knew how to enter and exit a roundabout and b) was used to insane drivers with no idea how to use a turn signal.

R20, were you in a Mercedes, looking for the love of your life, Carrie Bradshaw?

No, just co-workers. My boss was very impressed by my driving skills, though.

I wish I could plow into those who are hesitant about entering a roundabout. I’d give you something real to be concerned about.

Round about is such a stupid word. They aren't county fair rides. They are traffic circles. Always have been, always will be.

Please don't visit The Villages, FL; it is nothing but roundabouts.

I honestly can’t stand them.

In New England we call them rotaries. I dislike them.

Are the [bold] roundabouts [/bold] with you in the room?

R20, in that situation I'd have had a Mitch McConnell-level freeze-up. *shudder*

Would that be Louisiana, R10? Because I could've used a drive-thru daiquiri shop after today's experience.

I love you OP.

No thank you, R16.

30+ years ago on a long road trip my then-bf and I drove the infamous Mount Evans Road in Colorado. In a dark blue 1965 Chevy Impala SS convertible. After a few miles I had to hand off to bf, and soon realized the only thing worse than driving Mount Evans Road in a rear-wheel vehicle without ABS, 3-point seat belts, and airbags, is being a helpless *passenger* in same.

Give me sloughs, bayous, mountains and caves to tramp around. I can help corral an unruly alligator, wear a python like a mink stole. But Mount Evans in a car again? Not a chance.

Roundabouts can be tricky for some, but they do prevent a lot of accidents and I feel safer having them around than not.

[quote]Do you also spin out at revolving doors and escalators OP?

Funny you should post that, R13, because I used to get super anxious encountering both.

True story: when I was very young I LOVED escalators. Something weird switched on around 12-13, and I couldn't do them anymore. I would walk through an entire store searching out elevators, or look for the stairs. Finally, when I was about to leave the state for grad school, my dear friend said "You are going to deal with escalators TODAY." So she took my hand and we stepped onto the first step. The first 2-3 times I kept my eyes shut. But we kept at it. Up and down, rinse, repeat, all the while holding hands tightly. People looked at us like we were mad. Two hours later, I could do it w/o the hand holding.

That is one of the most wonderful things anyone has ever done for me.

But I never made that escalator/revolving door/roundabout connection you did, R13, so thanks!

As R27 said, we call them rotaries and I for one love them.

They are much safer and keep traffic flowing nicely. We should have many more around the country.

I’d rather a good roundabout than 4-way stop or traffic light, particularly for a single lane road.

There were several in South Jersey that were particularly treacherous. The state rebuilt all of them because the accident rates were so high.

Roundabouts have been a hot topic on my neighborhood's FB page for months. Everybody who isn't good with change has been weighing in. How dangerous they are (they are not), how much parking spots they eliminated to build them (4), how the city wasn't designed to have them. Seriously, roundabouts seem to be a greater menace than world hunger or the war in Ukraine. Next on the change-resistance list: Bike lanes. Those are just as evil as roundabouts.

OP, we assume you are not a top. Correct?

Well, you're half right, R39.

But then again, the last time I topped must have been somewhere in the early 80s, R39

My hometown installed a roundabout along one of the busier roads about 15 years ago, to great controversy. I would hear people condemning the roundabout every time I was in town for a visit. My mom, who lives near it, would announce every time she had to go through "that damned thing."

Then, a few years later, the controversy escalated when the main highway that came into town was rebuilt, and roundabouts were installed at every exit. It was treated like an apocalypse. My mom actually called me to tell me about it. I had a good chuckle last Christmas when I was in line at the coffee shop behind a group of locals who were complaining about roundabouts in snowy weather.

You're a mess, OP. Surrender your license.

Anyone confused about roundabouts is too dumb to be behind the wheel.

Do these roundabouts have calories?

It's just Millennials pushing them because they grew up in a push-button instaworld where they can't stand to wait.

No one ever thought someone might need instructions on how to use one. They just erect them and forget them.

I like stop lights because they give me a few moments to make a call, blow my nose, adjust the radio, etc. Stop lights were fine for 100 years- now suddenly they're not.

Yes, R45, those sound like complaints I've heard about the "new" 15-year-old roundabouts back home.

Don't want to dismiss your comment altogether, r45. But I don't believe it's a Millennial thing. Roundabouts exist for centuries, in the US technically for over 200 years. Admittedly, they are still not very common. Even if it was just a Millennial thing, I feel that shouldn't automatically disqualify the concept. Every generation should have the right to mold the world they live in, no matter what age. Also, there is actual science about benefits of roundabouts. They make sense in certain scenarios, depending on how much traffic goes through the intersection. If there is hardly any traffic it makes no sense. If it has heavy traffic, traffic lights make more sense.

I agree with you on the lack of instructions. Personally, I don't find roundabouts terribly confusing, possibly because I grew up with them. But since they need to work for everybody, that change needs to be explained thoroughly so everybody understands them, not just those who already know them. That's just change management. The need for change management is still severely underestimated.

I live in Wisconsin, about 10 years ago they started putting them in everywhere. Now, the occasional roundabout at a busy intersection makes sense, but here they put them in the middle of nowhere, sometimes two and three together.

Ok, so now you're on a country road doing 55 and suddenly there's a roundabout for a farm road. You slow to 30mph to go around then less than a mile up the road there's another, sometimes it's linked with two more. By the time I'm done I'm seasick and I've used twice the gas slowing and going 😠

The entire point of a roundabout is to make you slow down when driving.

The entire rest of the world has dealt with them for centuries.

But heaven forbid a few fat suburbanites be inconvenienced while driving to pick up their Chick Fil A sandwich.

This discussion also displays nicely how people resist. When people complain about runabout, they always complain about them as a whole and want them be eliminated altogether. I never seem to read critics saying 'I have a problem with them, but let's improve the concept by doing this or that to make them work for more people.'

@r49, "The entire point of a roundabout is to make you slow down when driving. "

That makes sense in heavy urban traffic, but slowing down on a 2-lane country road for farm road access is a waste of gas

There's too much stupid in this thread. Roundabouts in an urban setting makes total sense, but to place them everywhere in a sparsely populated rural setting is counterproductive and a waste of resources. Before you jump on the "cars are bad" bandwagon do some research

We hate you back

I love roundabouts, they are so efficient, and while they slow traffic, they also keep it moving more efficiently. I don't know why so many people are confused by them. Yield to those that are already in the roundabout, only turn to the right - simple. In the US, anyway.

The only thing better than a roundabout in a car, is a roundabout on a bicycle, especially if the roundabout has a bike lane. Coming home from the grocery store with the panniers weighed down with groceries, starting and stopping at stop signs is a pain in the ass, but a roundabout makes it much easier to maintain your inertia.

OP Get the fuck off the road. You shouldn't be driving. What the fuck is wrong with you

Rotaries are so simple. If you're in it, you have the right of way. If you're entering it, you wait until there's an opening in the traffic so you can.

How fucking difficult can that be?

^ One size does not fit all. There are many different types of roundabouts for different types of traffic. If you knew anything about roundabouts you would know that

Herw you go OP! (and sorry about your dad)

This is a roundabout I actually have to use in Madison Wisconsin...

"TOPS Lab researchers conducted a study of two dozen Wisconsin roundabouts between 2009 and 2011. According to Andrea Bill MS’06, a traffic safety engineer who led the study, the roundabouts showed a 52 percent reduction in the number of crashes that cause fatalities and injuries. However, she also noted that about half of the roundabouts showed an increase in minor collisions — those causing damage to cars but not to the people riding in them."

Years ago, I visited Ireland as an American. Not used to roundabouts at all. I rented a car and I was more stressed out by driving on the left side of the road and shifting with my left hand. I actually learned to like the roundabouts. So efficient in most cases!

[quote]but then I was living in New England at the time and a) knew how to enter and exit a roundabout and b) was used to insane drivers with no idea how to use a turn signal.

In Mass. they're called rotaries.

R57 I go through three of them every day in both directions.

In my recent travels, I noted that they used extensively in western Ireland and southern France.

Love 'em!

American's would rather sit at a traffic light, idling and wasting gasoline, when they could be on their way quicker with a roundabout.

[quote] I actually learned to like the roundabouts. So efficient in most cases!

Yay! I’m so happy.

R61, are you either R27 or r35?

No, but they didn't include a picture.

And I don't like them, unlike R35.

@r62, note one of many that I go through @r59

R65 my reply^

R65 My reply is R66

^ We get it.

I am not R61.

Why I like well-placed roundabouts: Improved traffic flow, reduced vehicle emissions and fuel consumption, safer for pedestrians, with a 30 to 40 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes, reduced delay and waiting time at stops and signals, lower vehicle speeds, 90 percent reduction in fatal crashes and 76 percent reduction in injury crashes, according to studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

I'm sure those who don't appreciate roundabouts can quote some less enthusiastic numbers. But I doubt anybody will find statistics that show the opposite, a negative impact on traffic.

It's the latest trendy DOT engineer fetish. They try to stick them anywhere they can because they're cheaper. Due to the number of accidents they have to spend three times as much to demolish them and put in standard intersections within a couple of years. Happened in two towns near us. We were going to get one in our small tourist beach town until our citizens stormed City Hall. All we needed were drunken tourist coming back from the bars in rental cars trying to navigate this washing machine at 2am. It would have also been right across from our fire station so emergency vehicles would get stuck in this spider web, brilliant. City Council passed a resolution "declining the honor of a Roundabout." DOT backed down. We are getting a standard intersection with traffic lights and safe pedestrian cross walks. The "Americans just don't know how to drive." argument is pretentious propaganda.

^ However there was a noted increase in minor accidents per the study @ r59

[quote] drunken tourist coming back from the bars in rental cars trying to navigate this washing machine at 2am

Wouldn't drunk driving be the actual problem here? I think I understand what you're saying. The beach towners probably thought that especially intoxicated drivers have a harder time to navigate this novel concept, therefore causing an even greater risk. But I am not sure a red light and pedestrian cross walk would solve the risk of drunk driving. I would assume that drunk driving kills more people than runabouts.

This just tells me again that cities need to do a better job introducing new concepts, maybe in less risky areas first, like quieter neighborhoods.

Roundabouts!

Very cool back in the day...

Hugs back to you, R58, and thanks.

And you're 100% right, R57. In my city there are three roundabouts within 1.75 miles of one another, and all three are configured differently. The one coming onto/leaving the large state university is flawless and quite intuitive; the other two, not so much.

I will admit to being a bit of a nelly queen about this, made worse by my anxiety about leaving my Dad alone in the house each time I'm doing the shopping or going to my own medical appointments. DL, you really are a godsend to me during this time, just to vent, laugh, even to be scolded. You're like going back to my childhood with my two older sisters: sometimes nice, often cunty, but always interesting and a bit crazymaking.

R63 it’s because the people of “the land of the free” can’t think for themselves and have to be told what to do. When to stop, when to go. They’re too stupid to figure it out on their own.