Steven Loc: So. Milwaukee, WI.

Finally found out who the idiot designer of these roundabouts is. He's called "circle jerk".

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

I think thats something else 😗

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

As you will probably know jerry, Britain has roundabouts instead of junctions controlled by traffic lights. The traffic flow is continuous (obviously the flow rate is slower in heavy traffic), one of the advantages is that most roundabouts are troublefree, as no power is used for traffic lights (although some are used on the roundabout system on motorways). Traffic lights of course can be knocked out by any number of reasons (power/mechanical failure). The roundabout system started life in the US but was abandoned! but Britain thought it was a good idea and took it up.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

We don't have that problem with traffic lights.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

We are used to the red/yellow/green lights.

I have a vague recollection from my childhood of two-color lights: red and green. When both red and green are lit, the meaning was yellow.

Don't recall where that was but it was probably in Philadelphia, but it could have been in New York.

nicelifter Loc: erie,pa

we have a small roundabout on our street and it took the problem of trucks tearing up our road cuz the trucks cant make it around them here .when they put it in someone went thru the brick wall in the middle and died .i guess they dont save lives

SoHillGuy Loc: Washington

When it gets really bad the traffic engineers will add stop and go Pause lights.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I think I remember them in Manhattan.

Yes -
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS925US925&sxsrf=ALeKk00kT8CUXF4ZCVn-lmQcc-fVaqdfMA:1628782971187&q=old+nyc+traffic+lights&tbm=isch&chips=q:old+nyc+traffic+lights,online_chips:fifth+avenue:qKcFWsmpkQs%3D&usg=AI4_-kT0c1rpGYj04SIDjOvqRc3pfL5ybw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRhKez6avyAhVRG80KHR1fA_4QgIoDKAF6BAgGEA8&biw=2133&bih=1041

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

They started in Europe. There people are used to them and drive small cars. To me it's like being in a demolition derby.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

hoo, boy you are hitting a nerve. That one seems too big and complicated. I don't like roundabouts, but will always say they seem better than traffic lights b/c they keep the traffic moving. But that one looks to have too much of what is not good about them.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Keeping the traffic moving is part of the problem. Downstream side roads need breaks in the traffic.

Abo

The traffic in roundabouts is one way... laugh out loud.

Competing traffic just enters into a gap giving way to the left (US and Europe) or right (the rest of the world)...
depending on LHD or RHD.

It's the easiest thing in the world.
It staggers my imagination at the magnitude
of the stupidity of those that get it wrong.

The most prevalent error I see, and I've seen
"professional" driving instructors do it multiple times,
is a car intending to make a left turn at a roundabout
entering into the roundabout in the left lane (of the two lane roundabout)
with the left indicator on, then while in the roundabout, they drift
into the right lane out of the left with the left indicator still operating... WTF!
It really matters when you are on a motorcycle and you have entered the roundabout
in the left lane beside the learner and their (mal)instructor.

I've reversed the handedness for ease of comprehension for those that drive on the right (but wrong)
side as you do in the US and Europe.

Abo

I love them, many get them wrong, but that's ok as far as I'm concerned;
as driving rings around the inept makes me feel superior LOL.

Stephan G

I learned how to drive back in the early 1960s in a town called Chicago. One of the tricks of the road taught was how to drive with spacing in mind. When the light turned green, the cars started to move across the intersections once clearance was determined, with following cars allowing an opening of one one vehicle before them. Drivers anticipated the change of the light in preparation to move. We were taught to move as blocs of vehicles so that a good number of cars would cross per lane before the light started to change. Many of the major arteries had their lights timed in cascade that by driving right just below the speed limit, one could actually get across the city without having to stop. During rush hour periods, the traffic did become stop-and-go, but we were able to keep moving. The major avenues included trucks, semis, buses (even trolley-buses) as well as the cars traversed fairly well. I will grant that the grid system that was used to set up the roads in the city served it well. And the city also had a fantastic public transportation that included commuter trains. I have noticed that the "driving public" had decided to follow the me-first-rule in driving over the years.

The general attitude, I have observed, is that there is no appreciation for group movement akin to schools of fish, or even the huge number of birds working on their migrations. The driver at the gig line has to be honked at to just to realize that the light has been green for a bit. Those who follow seem to wait even longer to start inching forward. Where there could have been ten cars through the intersection, only four went across before the lights changed to caution. As for tapping on one's horn, that does not work because the sleeper will hit their brakes and stop traffic even further. Not only that, it may get one shot these days!

The roundabouts do not really work because the training does not precede the inclusion. Drivers do not want to learn how to drive, they rather have systems aboard that replace their ability to do the job. We still have to undo the "indestructible seat belt" mind set. The seat-belt is the last line of defense when it comes to accidents. It is not the first. Its purpose is to hold you in place in a out of control vehicle. Yes, it should be one of the first things to do, a la plane check before flight. But it does not make one a better driver.

The work word for today: Co-operation.

Abo

Twin concentric roundabouts
in Canberra Australian Capitol Territory
from 37,000 feet QFE: