Round abouts what countries use them in large numbers?

[goraman]

I live in Roseville Ca. in the U.S. and in the heart of old Roseville we moved from a 4 way stop with left and right turn lanes with stop signs to a round about.
Never having used one for the longest time my butt would clinch as I approached it. I had not used one before and it just made me feel like a fish out of water.
I was used to the madness of people running the stop signs at times or going out of turn ect..
I have been going through this now for awhile taking Conner to play or practice Baseball and just the other day I was going around and thought " hay, I do this with out even thinking about it now ".
I know there are some in France but it made me think, No one is racing lights or rolling stop signs,no broken glass from accidents, You have to yield but not necessarily stop so it is faster ,keeps traffic moving.
And you have to slow down to use itso if you do make a mistake you have time to avoid an accident. Why are they so rare here ,when they seem to work so well?

Has anyone come to a U.S.city and had to drive and thought why so many 4 ways and felt uncomfortable with our right of way laws? and thought madness?
I'm just curious how other countries view driving here. aside from the fact so many of you drive on the wrong side of the road:doh:

[struth]

We have thousands.. Some huge, and some tiny. We also have multiple roundabouts, ie, roundabouts within roundabouts etc.. Some will scare anyone . Lol

[Macca]

50,000 in France and 26,0000 in the UK. The UK also has at least four 'magic roundabouts' which are roundabouts within a roundabout:

https://i.imgur.com/DqDa4rg.png

The roundabout is a British invention of course. :D Although one area you are ahead in the US is having the ability to make an inside turn whilst the traffic light is on red. According to Jeremy Clarkson this is America's sole contribution to Western Civilisation.

[brian2957]

The place where I live has no traffic lights and traffic is controlled by roundabouts , and there's a lot of them . However , a lot of the locals don't know how to use them properly ,,,quite dangerous .

[tapid]

The people s republic of Milton Keynes are famous for them of course. Once went seriously giddy travelling through there....... another one, another one, another one... Phew.

[goraman]

50,000 in France and 26,0000 in the UK. The UK also has at least four 'magic roundabouts' which are roundabouts within a roundabout:

https://i.imgur.com/DqDa4rg.png

The roundabout is a British invention of course. :D Although one area you are ahead in the US is having the ability to make an inside turn whilst the traffic light is on red. According to Jeremy Clarkson this is America's sole contribution to Western Civilisation.
Thats like a 1+5 ,that would take some getting used too Martin, I do think they make sense, especially in the case of ours in Roseville . Stopped a lot of accidents from happening.
It's just new to us.

Right on a red , or right turn from a stop gets pretty loose in California , You are still supposed to stop first , yet few actually ever do ,so much so it is called the California roll. Still it works well. I am sure it has happened but I have yet to see an accident from doing this.

The deadly game here is people mashing it through yellow and red lights, It is always tragic to see flowers all over the corner of an intersection and the glimmer of fresh broken glass where someone was hit in the side or head on at 80 +mph.
I want a new Triumph scrambler , I miss my old Bonneville 750 . But I promised Nosheen not till Conner goes off to collage . I'll be 62 to 63 then. Not sure I'll still want to ride trails off road .
Funny how buy the time we have time and money , we have so little time left. Seems everyone is always in such a hurry now, tempers are boiling after being stuck in traffic and once things get moving people just loose there sense, everyones looking to pass the guy in front of them to make the green light. I'm glad my drive to work is short now.

[struth]

https://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/04/Magic-Roundabout3.jpg

If practice they look like this...:lol:

[ReggieB]

Brummies (like my wife and her family) call them islands which confuses the hell out of me.

[datdad]

So years ago I was being driven to Edinburgh by an American mate of mine who was not used to 'traffic circles'. Nearly killed us having expected that large double decker coming towards us would stop for him on the roundabout. We nearly met the Reaper then. Once my heart slowed down, I insisted on taking back the driving. He was & may be still is a great sound engineer and drummer.

[Beobloke]

Of course, not al roundabouts are equal. In the UK, you give way to traffic already on the roundabout but I've driven in some countries where it's the other way round. In Mexico it can be either way, depending on the road markings. That proved "interesting" on occasions, especially in rush hour when the road markings were worn away...:hmm:

[Pigmy Pony]

I live in Roseville Ca. in the U.S. and in the heart of old Roseville we moved from a 4 way stop with left and right turn lanes with stop signs to a round about.
Never having used one for the longest time my butt would clinch as I approached it. I had not used one before and it just made me feel like a fish out of water.
I was used to the madness of people running the stop signs at times or going out of turn ect..
I have been going through this now for awhile taking Conner to play or practice Baseball and just the other day I was going around and thought " hay, I do this with out even thinking about it now ".
I know there are some in France but it made me think, No one is racing lights or rolling stop signs,no broken glass from accidents, You have to yield but not necessarily stop so it is faster ,keeps traffic moving.
And you have to slow down to use itso if you do make a mistake you have time to avoid an accident. Why are they so rare here ,when they seem to work so well?

Has anyone come to a U.S.city and had to drive and thought why so many 4 ways and felt uncomfortable with our right of way laws? and thought madness?
I'm just curious how other countries view driving here. aside from the fact so many of you drive on the wrong side of the road:doh:

Perhaps the US didn't adopt roundabouts due to American cars' inability to go round corners :ner: And that may be different with modern cars.

A lot of the larger roundabouts in Britain now also use traffic lights - vehicles could get up a fair lick of speed on those roundabouts, and some used them like mini racing circuits. You took your life in your own hands when joining them sometimes. The added traffic lights, when phased a certain way, put a stop to this.

[Firebottle]

Of course, not al roundabouts are equal. In the UK, you give way to traffic already on the roundabout but I've driven in some countries where it's the other way round. In Mexico it can be either way, depending on the road markings. That proved "interesting" on occasions, especially in rush hour when the road markings were worn away...:hmm:

Jeez that sounds like a nightmare.

I do like the French term 'Giratoire' as it has more feeling than roundabout.

[Pigmy Pony]

Jeez that sounds like a nightmare.

I do like the French term 'Giratoire' as it has more feeling than roundabout.

Always enjoyed driving in France, just seems more intuitive and less stressful somehow. Apart from Paris, that's death-on-a-stick that is.

[guy]

I seem to remember that Stevenage (Hertfordshire "new town") didn't have any traffic lights for years; roundabouts only - I haven't been there for many years :yay: but I think that they have now.

[goraman]

Perhaps the US didn't adopt roundabouts due to American cars' inability to go round corners :ner: And that may be different with modern cars.

A lot of the larger roundabouts in Britain now also use traffic lights - vehicles could get up a fair lick of speed on those roundabouts, and some used them like mini racing circuits. You took your life in your own hands when joining them sometimes. The added traffic lights, when phased a certain way, put a stop to this.

That is a very fair comment on older American cars . My first car was a 1972 Monkey puke yellow Buick Electra 225 with a 455 cubic inch motor and a huge 850 cfm Quadrojet 4 barrel. 225 inches is nearly 19 ft!
8 miles per gallon and it did not do U turns unless you started the turn by illegally starting in the outer lane ,swinging wide then quickly spinning the wheel to the left as fast as possible while the rear wheels squealed through the turn. The hood ornament gets through the turn nearly a minute ahead of the tail lights.
The exact beast. This guy must be selling it by the pound. Scroll the pictures. Just look at the size of the fuel line going to the carburetor,
https://www.motorcar.com/for-sale/used-1972-buick-electra-225_limited-riverhead-ny-8031-4154890.html $32,495! I paid $200.00 in 1982 from the original owner an older gentleman with 48,000ish on the odometer.
It was just sitting for 2 years with a dead battery and the tires had gone flat. He lost his sight and just wanted it gone.
When Gas prices sky rocketed these cars just sat in driveways all across America ,on the freeway I once got 10 mpg! It had a 27 gallon fuel tank serious.

[struth]

That would cost about £200 to fill up these days. A tank, with a tank.
Still I bet it would turn heads today

[Scorps]

that less mileage that an electric car lol

[goraman]

Some pictures taken from the 7th floor .
Of our round about and just near it.

[struth]

Thought one car was going wrong way, but think it's just bright tails.
Looks nice and simple anyway

[Pigmy Pony]

Thought one car was going wrong way, but think it's just bright tails.
Looks nice and simple anyway

Looks like a very nicely kept roundabout. Ours are mostly made up of McDonalds cartons and used nappies. Sorry I meant diapers

[goraman]

If I remember correctly she was 3 tons, nothing more stable at high speeds on the freeway.
The speedo went to 120 mph and you could peg it before it went into overdrive if you manual shifted it.
When I80 was empty one Sunday near Auburn, I did just that, it was a freeway sled for sure.

[Barry]

The people s republic of Milton Keynes are famous for them of course. Once went seriously giddy travelling through there....... another one, another one, another one... Phew.

Well actually it is Bracknell which is the MoT repository for all the spare roundabouts in the UK.