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Do Americans Know What A Roundabout Is?

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  • #46
    The larger roundabouts are "circles" in D.C. DuPont Circle (no pun intended), Scott Circle, etc. They are good at increasing speed through an area and also good at directing traffic across town. However, they are very confusing for those who don't know their way around and in high density traffic can be dangerous.

    In D.C., the configuration of most of the circles renders the "increasing speed" portion of their raison d'etre inoperable, while decreasing the danger.
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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    • #47
      what do you mean by "configuration" ??? Are there more ways than one to operate a traffic circle?
      urgh.NSFW

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      • #48
        ... a sleeping policeman is designed especially to kill ferrari cars.. the engineers are probably payed so poorly they want revenge on anyone who has managed to earn big $$$


        (btw it's actually quite funny to see a ferrari drive over a sleeping policeman... they go like 2 km/h )
        "An archaeologist is the best husband a women can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her." - Agatha Christie
        "Non mortem timemus, sed cogitationem mortis." - Seneca

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        • #49
          "Are there more ways than one to operate a traffic circle?"

          Sure there are. You can put stop lights on the circle, on the tributaries, or both. The circle still adds efficiency (although not nearly as much), considering that you can have larger numbers of tributaries.
          I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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          • #50
            I hate traffic circles. They slow traffic down unreasonably during rush hour and most idiots don't know how to drive in one. I'm always worried about getting clipped.
            Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...

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            • #51
              oh traffic lights on the tributaries. I know of only one place in Israel that has those, and they are considered a local joke, and a municipal white elephant. there is no point in those , really.
              urgh.NSFW

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              • #52
                I can't understand why in the United States one has to yield to the traffic inside the roundabout, although they drive to the right. In my country, whoever is on the right comes first everywhere, unless there is a sign saying otherwise. So when one enter a roundabout he doesn't have to yield, unless he reaches the next entry point. This means that people inside the roundabout must drive carefully.
                "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
                George Orwell

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                • #53
                  That would cause way too many accidents, axi. Americans are terrible drivers.
                  Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...

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                  • #54
                    I'm with Che here, I HATE traffic circles. Most people do not, in fact, know how to use them (getting a driver's license in most states is pathetically easy) and I just don't trust the other morons in the circle with me, which makes me jumpy.

                    I can only think of two traffic circles, though I'm sure I've been through more than that because I've done a fair amount of driving in VT and NH. One is in Hartford, coming off the "downtown area" exit off of I-91. That one is rarely crowded, so no biggie. The other is up in the Boston area on the way to IHOP from my friend's apartment That one is a bit more problematic.

                    DanS, though I've never actually had to drive there, DC looked horrible. I have visited a friend in Chevy Chase a couple of times, and driving around with him (in a '78 Chevy Caprice, no less) was... well, it got the blood flowing.

                    -Arrian
                    grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

                    The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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                    • #55
                      getting a driver's license in most states is pathetically easy
                      that's the problem , I guess. I learned to drive for 8 months, and now I am a great driver .
                      urgh.NSFW

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                      • #56
                        Originally posted by Azazel

                        ...I am a great driver .
                        We all think that.

                        But yeah, driving tests in the US are unbelievably easy, and that's a problem, IMO. It should be a lot harder to get a license that allows you to control a couple of tons of metal at speeds upwards of 55mph.

                        -Arrian
                        grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

                        The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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                        • #57
                          I can't understand why in the United States one has to yield to the traffic inside the roundabout, although they drive to the right. In my country, whoever is on the right comes first everywhere, unless there is a sign saying otherwise. So when one enter a roundabout he doesn't have to yield, unless he reaches the next entry point. This means that people inside the roundabout must drive carefully.
                          BEcause it encourages stopping traffic. The idea is to keep it going. GO! GO! GO!

                          Yes, american drivers are dangerous, but in areas where rotaries are prevalent, and the primary traffic is locals, there really isn't that big of a safety issue. (Now the one down the road from Logan where you get a bunch of tourists.....that one you have to be careful at )

                          Now 4 way stop signs? Heh..for some reason the ma$$holes don't get those
                          I see the world through bloodshot eyes
                          Streets filled with blood from distant lies.

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                          • #58
                            Perhaps they figured you guys wouldn't stop at them anyway We in CT have our own version of "stopping at a stop sign."

                            -Arrian
                            grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

                            The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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                            • #59
                              Good point....at places with good visibility in both directions, there really is no need for stop signs with most people. Most stop signs around here are treated as yields.....

                              Come to a complete stop at a stop sign? Yeah...right
                              I see the world through bloodshot eyes
                              Streets filled with blood from distant lies.

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                              • #60
                                I call it the "I could have stopped if I really needed to" move. I normally try not to do it, but even I can't be bothered with a true full stop sometimes.

                                -Arrian
                                grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

                                The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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