It's frustrating riding with certain other American drivers in other countries. I've met numerous folks now that seem upset that they have to actually pay attention to their driving and the traffic. Meanwhile I'm horrified that they're apparently just ... completely on auto-pilot in the US.
WSDOT has been encouraging them for a few years now, and my town has several new roundabouts as a result -- and lots of other cities across the state are using them. They've made navigating those intersections way easier, reduced traffic "waiting times", and generally improved safety versus a lighted intersection. I'm glad they're continuing to find ways to make them work.
It seemed when I was growing up in NJ, the state DOT was taking out the giant roundabouts that they were famous for, and now in Washington, they're having a huge resurgence.
It also does not help that NJ is the only state in the US that does not have a consistent rule about roundabout traffic priority.
I still get confused at the big roundabout in Kent, after coming off Highway 167 at Willis Street, but most others I've encountered are fine, despite the drivers who still want to stop before proceeding onto them even when there's no other traffic.
Also, keeping your navigation display "north up" is much better than having one that will probably be laggy in a roundabout, confusing you on which exit to take.
If all else fails, look at the signage; I remember driving and a passenger not sure if the roundabout exit I was taking was correct, I said "Well there's a big sign there that says this way to our destination."
I've also seen a trio of 3 of them be adjusted (by changing lane markings and signage -- nothing of grand expense) in a way that was much more sensible and easier to follow than the original design.
It seems to me that a lot of the issues with them could be eliminated by having a bail-out path that is both safe and acceptable.
Logically, it seems like this ideally means providing the opportunity to simply go 'round again and do it over.
Or where that's not possible and there must be a lane with an irrevocable default exit, then: That exit should be low-cost and provide an opportunity nearby to safely stop and spend as much time as it takes to re-evaluate a second attempt.
It should never dump a driver into an unexpected 9-mile-long Pavlovian clusterfuck.
The lanes are painted to "spiral" so that if you take the furthest left hand, by the time you get to the 3rd exit, it's the outermost lane.
Led to quite a bit of ribbing from the passengers so perhaps this is a PEBKAC after all.
Roundabouts are a waste of space, disrupt traffic, and take more brain processing than I care to afford if I can help it. This particular example isn't even round.
I once saw a roundabout with stop signs. I assume it was an attempt to address this situation.
The problem occurs mostly when the dominant flow is given multiple lanes.
A fairly common solution/workaround is blocking the view of the approaching traffic, forcing it to slow down. But again, this doesn't work well on large roundabouts that allow people to speed up to of 30+ mph.
In terms of brain processing, you get used to it and it becomes second nature. It is a skill.
Ones with multiple layers stress me out, there are more ways to screw up and more demands on your defensive-driving attention.
| |
=O============O=Ours is much simpler, with a round-a-bout on either side of a regional highway. One of the difficult parts about it is everybody is already jacked the fuck up (on account of 2 of the 5 input/outputs being extremely steep grade to enter/exit a river-crossing, with speeds averaging 65-70mph ["55mph" posted, oklol).
That wouldn't raise an eyebrow here in the UK, it's very normal for highway junctions to have on/off ramps that end in 2-3 lane roundabouts, one each side of the highway.
Yeah, if my driver’s ed class (both content and classmates) are any indication, a four way stop is anything but intuitive or brainless.
There’s a lot of time spent covering the right of way order, and a lot of people failing their driving test on it.
Roundabouts are only disruptive because of a lack of familiarity… the only way to build that familiarity is with practice. Sucks that you have to learn a new concept after a decade or two or four ~~in the industry~~ on the road, but seems necessary for progress.
Here the situation is uneven road size, through traffic on the highway and odd angles. Perfect roundabout application.