Roundabouts - What they are and what they aren't (1 of 5)

Find out how a modern roundabout works, and why it's different from those traffic circles you see in Europe.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• wsdot
• roundabout

[adrianroam95]

@shmuli9 The SR539 roundabouts piss me off.

[Marmosette]

They completely fail to say what makes these different from the "rotaries" in the UK. They're actually called roundabouts there too, and they work the same way as in the US, so I'm finding this video hard to trust.

[UrukEngineer]

WTF is a vee-hickle?

[HunterstonB]

The first modern roundabout's were introduced in 1966 in the UK and had replaced about 90% of intersections by 1980. They rapidly spread to the rest of the world. The USA is the last major country in the world to introduce them.

The British have been the world leaders in highway design for the last 50 years, the philosophy being to 'engineer' road accidents out of the system, Their accident rate is 30% that of the USA.

Look up 'cats eyes' instead of 'bot's dots'

[shmuli9]

@Seattlecarnut Yes, there are 3 or 4 on the "Guide Meridian" (SR 539) in between Whatcom County and the Lower Mainland. At first, the farmers who used the Guide were predicting gloom and doom, but after the roundabouts were installed, they LOVE them.

[Seattlecarnut]

@shmuli9 Ah. Ok. I rarely visit Lacey, and I've never visited Kennewick, I've visited parts of Whatcom County.

[shmuli9]

@Seattlecarnut Yes, there ae other places in WA State that have them. Lacey, Kennewick, Whatcom County, Yakima, Woodinville, Lynnwood, Tulalip, University Place, Olympia, North Bend, and Clark Count are a few more places...

[Seattlecarnut]

@shmuli9 It doesn't make sense. There are places here in Washington state I've visited that have roundabouts. Gig Harbor, Monroe, Issaquah. If I missed any other places, please let me know.

[shmuli9]

@leapoffaith20 I found out the reason why there IS a difference of driving on the left or right! It has something to do with the fact that in North America and France, distances travelled by wagon were QUITE a bit longer than distances travelled in Britain.

[shmuli9]

@Seattlecarnut Supposedly the reason given is "people aren't used to them", which doesn't make much sense. That would have been sort of (in the 19th century) "we're not going to install electric lights because people are used to having kerosene lamps to gas-fade the wallpaper or blow up" or "we're not going to install water mains becasue people are used to getting typoid from drnking contaminated well water".