Why are roundabouts hard for some people?

[just Warren]

I just don't understand the difficulty some people have with them.

[MechAg94]

I can think of two I have been through within an hour of me.  They are not very common in this area.  Some people have trouble with a 4-way stop.  Does it surprise you some have trouble with a moving circle that some others like to treat like a race track?

The most frustrating driving spot I go through every day is a simple highway exit with a long deceleration lane and pretty good distance to the stop light.  Despite all that, lots of people still slow down 10 to 20 MPH before they even enter the exit lane.  Causes a significant slow down in that area when traffic is heavy.   

[griz]

Some folks are just really poor drivers.  They literally have a hard time staying in the lane on a straight piece of road.  So when they have to do more than one task at a time it overloads their skill set.   Combine turning, looking for other cars, and changing speed at the same time, and they're way over their heads.

[tokugawa]

Because they have become a new Green panacea to every stop light in creation, and are often used in places no sane Englishman would put them.  Too small a radius, too many lanes, too many entrances and exits, and conflicting signs.
 

[RoadKingLarry]

Sometimes the damn things are rare as hell.
The only one i know.of in the state is in Tulsa.
I'd never seen one till I was stationed in Connecticut.

[Northwoods]

It’s the morons that stop to let people into the roundabout that bother me.  The rest of it isn’t so bad.  But having someone stop when they shouldn’t and it’s unexpected is dangerous. 

[Regolith]

They put in two roundabouts on the road to my workplace a couple of years ago. There's also a number of retirement communities and long term care facilities in the immediate area. Which means I regularly get stuck behind some old fart who probably shouldn't be driving anymore anyway and is encountering a roundabout for the first time their life.

[TommyGunn]

My parents lived in Scotland in the mid 1980s for a few years and had to get used to them driving on the left side of the road.   While visiting I had the opportunity to do the same ..... never having even heard of a roundabout.

Now I live in  the county seat of a North Alabama county;  about 15 years ago some dimwitted  town council idiot decided it would be cool to put a roundabout in a intersection that had been standard 4 way for 150 years.  There really was no room for it.  Sometimes I drive by and there are deep tire tracks from some 18 wheel Mack Truck in the center of it that would never have been able to maneuver the roundabout staying on asphalt.      

Some of the people we elect into gooberment aren't terribly bright ....

[Nick1911]

There are folks that spend their entire working careers studying traffic, roadways, driver behavior, accident statistics and everything else roadway related they can get their hands on.  And yea, it seems that as traffic control devices, roundabouts have advantages in some situations.

I think the reason some folks have trouble with them in the US is because they are not common in all areas.  If you're not really expecting it, a roundabout can cause a bit of confusion and disorientation.  If you happen to normally interact with a traffic circle, and roundabout will be VERY confusing.

I'll admit that I was and still am uncomfortable in three lane wide roundabouts I encountered in europe.  For folks that use them every day and know which lanes get stripped off where or whatnot, it's no problem.  For a tourist, you have to be on your game reading and interpreting signs at the speed of traffic.  If your OODA loop is too slow, you're in trouble.

[Perd Hapley]

Um, they're new around here, so people don't know how they work. I just don't understand the difficulty you have understanding that. 

[Kingcreek]

Pretty rare around here. I call them car grinders. I’m ok with them if I know it’s coming and know for sure which leg I need.

[K Frame]

Never saw one until I moved to DC back in 1990. There are a bunch in the city.

Now we're getting more of them out here in the Virginia suburbs.

[Fly320s]

They are very common in New England.  I go through 3 traffic circles on the way to work and there are several more I use weekly.

I don't have a problem with the traffic circle itself, but I do have a problem with the Massholes who speed through them. 

[Ben]

There are not many of them here. They were getting very popular, including in housing subdivisions, before I left CA. Certainly I was somewhat confused, in the, "What the hell is this thing?" the first time I ever encountered one many years ago during work travel back East. My  problem these days is not the roundabout itself, but the drivers in it. I end up often slowing down more than needed because I don't trust the other drivers in the roundabout. Unlike a four way stop, there are many more dumb things that other drivers can do in a roundabout, and much less time and space to react to those dumb things.

If you happen to normally interact with a traffic circle, and roundabout will be VERY confusing.

There's a difference? I thought it was two words for the same thing.

Slight tangent, but in several states out West, to include Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Utah (maybe more, I can't remember), we have flashing yellow left turn arrows. That is, you have a designated left turn pocket, but instead of going green/yellow/red, it will at certain times go to flashing yellow, which allows you to make a left turn the same way as you would during a green light when there is no turn pocket.

I first thought they were a great idea, and still do when in a low traffic area, but in high traffic they are a menace. Instead of treating them as a, "If it's safe, go ahead" signal, people seem to treat them like a, "I've got to make it through this light!" scenario. I see way too many close calls for T-bones with that light in crowded conditions. I wish they would go away in our urban centers out here.

[bedlamite]

Let's be honest here, some people have a hard time putting their pants on correctly in the morning, and they can still legally drive.

[K Frame]

"Slight tangent, but in several states out West, to include Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Utah (maybe more, I can't remember), we have flashing yellow left turn arrows. That is, you have a designated left turn pocket, but instead of going green/yellow/red, it will at certain times go to flashing yellow, which allows you to make a left turn the same way as you would during a green light when there is no turn pocket. "

we have those in Northern Virginia. Ours, however, will give the green arrow if a car is in the turn lane. Once the arrow goes away the light will either go red or go flashing yellow. Flashing yellow means you can turn left if the coast is clear, basically turn, but yield to oncoming traffic.

If the lights are red across the intersection and there is no car in the left turn lane when the lights turn green the left turn yellow arrow will often come up as a default.

[French G.]

I giggle every time they put a new one in and don’t build a substantial inside curb. I giggle but you never hear me say I slowed down. Found one so entertaining it took me three laps to get out of it.

[MechAg94]

It’s the morons that stop to let people into the roundabout that bother me.  The rest of it isn’t so bad.  But having someone stop when they shouldn’t and it’s unexpected is dangerous.

I find that people who don't follow the normal right-of-way rules in any intersection, it can end up slowing everyone down and sometimes causing a dangerous situation. 

[fifth_column]

Pop quiz! When should the turn signal be used when utilizing a round-about?

[Fly320s]

Pop quiz! When should the turn signal be used when utilizing a round-about?

Trick question.  No one uses turn signals in a round-about!

[Fly320s]

On the subject of traffic lights for left turn lanes:  Around here I see a bunch of "No left turn on red" signs mounted over the traffic light.  What the actual fcuk, over?  Do we really need to remind people to not turn across traffic on a red light? 

[French G.]

Pop quiz! When should the turn signal be used when utilizing a round-about?

When exiting. To some people’s shock I noticed my turn signal out and promptly fixed it.

[Nick1911]

There's a difference? I thought it was two words for the same thing.

[fifth_column]

When exiting. To some people’s shock I noticed my turn signal out and promptly fixed it.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Around here nobody uses a signal, except for those that use them incorrectly. So it's hard to tell if you're going to have to yield to the car coming from your left or not, making it necessary to yield even when in fact there was no need to yield. Wankers.

[Ben]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/5XdgS1Z.png

Thanks, but that made me dizzy. 

There might have been a traffic circle when I lived in Santa Barbara, but I think everything else I have hit have been roundabouts.

Hawaii has some scary (driver caused) roundabouts.