Left turns..is that a good idea?

Ooh,,Has anyone brought up the difference between a traffic circle and a roundabout yet?
Yah, yah...no?

If you're going to kill the flow of traffic with a round intersection, why would also then install multiple traffic lights? I mean, wtf?
 
Rich Holt said:
Ooh,,Has anyone brought up the difference between a traffic circle and a roundabout yet?
Yah, yah...no?

If you're going to kill the flow of traffic with a round intersection, why would also then install multiple traffic lights? I mean, wtf?
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Either traffic control device requires a left turn therefore are more deadly than a straight road that doesn’t cross another.
 
Rich Holt said:
If you're going to kill the flow of traffic with a round intersection, why would also then install multiple traffic lights? I mean, wtf?
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control.

some small* people have a deep deep desire to control others.

* "small" was the most polite word, not the adjective I really wanted to use, but rules are rules...
 
And I saw somewhere that the people who psychologically want the jobs that can exert control are the least suited for the job. As in they will tend to go further than they should. But, since better suited people do not want the job, and hence do not apply for the job, we're stuck with them.
 
guest user said:
And I saw somewhere that the people who psychologically want the jobs that can exert control are the least suited for the job. As in they will tend to go further than they should. But, since better suited people do not want the job, and hence do not apply for the job, we're stuck with them.
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That was probably Washington, D.C., where you saw it.
 
Roundabouts are the way to go. They are MUCH SAFER.

I was talking with the Washington State Patrol after a new roundabout was built in Mattawa. There are just as many accidents.......except now they are low speed instead of high speed.
 
kgruber said:
Roundabouts are the way to go. They are MUCH SAFER.

I was talking with the Washington State Patrol after a new roundabout was built in Mattawa. There are just as many accidents.......except now they are low speed instead of high speed.
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Should we be thwarting Darwin? ;)
 
kgruber said:
Just like any intersection, there are crosswalks. Except the traffic is going slow.
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going slow? not always, there are rotaries in massachusetts where "slow" is not the word to describe the speed.
 
Bob Noel said:
going slow? not always, there are rotaries in massachusetts where "slow" is not the word to describe the speed.
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There are a few here where the radius and road width are such that it can be a straight shot on a motorcycle. Slow down?! Ha ha ha ha......
 
First one I met was back in the day in the one near Logan Aiport on the way to Lynn.

After going around four times, I finally deduced they were not going to let me out, I had to GET out. So carefully avoiding all eye contact and not signaling, I exited right and went on my way to Lynn. The return to Logan a few days later was much easier by assuming no one else was in the “pattern”.

Cheers
 
X3 Skier said:
First one I met was back in the day in the one near Logan Aiport on the way to Lynn.

After going around four times, I finally deduced they were not going to let me out, I had to GET out. So carefully avoiding all eye contact and not signaling, I exited right and went on my way to Lynn. The return to Logan a few days later was much easier by assuming no one else was in the “pattern”.

Cheers
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As a lifelong resident of massachusetts, I'm sorry you had to experience the incompetence of massachusetts drivers and the incompetence of the people who designed/built the roads.
 
Bob Noel said:
going slow? not always, there are rotaries in massachusetts where "slow" is not the word to describe the speed.
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But nobody is flooring it on yellow/red. Roundabouts are not just safer, but MUCH safer.

Benefits of roundabouts
Roundabouts have many important benefits over other intersection control types.

Improve safety
Studies have shown that roundabouts are safer than traditional stop sign or traffic signal controlled intersections.

Roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 75 percent at intersections where stop signs or traffic signals were previously used for traffic control, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Studies by the IIHS and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have shown that roundabouts typically achieve:

  • A 37 percent reduction in overall collisions
  • A 75 percent reduction in injury collisions
  • A 90 percent reduction in fatality collisions
  • A 40 percent reduction in pedestrian collisions
https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/traffic...ts,or traffic signal controlled intersections.
 
It'll take me some time to find it, but I recall a study showing that making safety modification to a portion of road (e.g., including intersections) would lower accidents at that location but overall road safety remained the same when a large enough area was considered. A strange kind of balance in nature...
 
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