[TrialsRider]

If our governments really, truly, care to reduce fuel consumption and save the environment, why have they still not banned 4 way stop signs ?

[Jeff in Kentucky]

In Lexington, Kentucky they have an Australian style roundabout instead of a regular 4-way intersection- cars usually keep moving and there are fewer accidents, but it takes more space and takes some getting used to.

[TrialsRider]

…have a new traffic circle near us too, but it replaced a 2 way stop sign
It’s small enough diameter that the first time they use it as an emergency route for the nearby super highway, a single piggy-back truck rig will block traffic in 3 directions.

[JackTrade]

In Washington, D.C. were I live, we have traffic circles *with* stop signs and lights. Yeah, it combines the worst of both worlds…

[eon]

4 way stop signs should be banned on principle. Stupidest traffic flow management system ever dreamed up. Coming from the UK I am very familiar with roundabouts and on the whole I say they do a good job. They don’t solve every problem though and designers there tend to go a bit crazy with them at times (there is an infamous one somewhere in England that looks like a snowflake). Once folks get used to them you can make them very small. There are plenty of mini-roundabouts around that are nothing more than a painted circle in the middle of the intersection but the same rules apply. Would not want to jump straight into that design here though. I’m seeing a lot more of them cropping up here in WA which makes me happy.

Now if we can only change all those Stop signs into Yield signs….

[eternal05]

…but we’re too stupid and impatient for them in this country. They put in a big roundabout near my dad’s house and I see everybody signalling to go in (which doesn’t makes sense, since you can only go one way), then didn’t signal to get out. I have a traffic circle near my house (it’s too small to be truly called a “roundabout”) and I have yet to see anybody who doesn’t live in my house go around it the right way. Sure, lots of people cut the left (though if any one of them did while I was coming around that blind turn on my motorcycle, they’d kill me), but some even go STRAIGHT by going clockwise around it…

Honestly I think it’s hopeless. Elwood’s and his awful Miami traffic are probably laughing at me whining about this “little” thing, but I think it’s just a bit more evidence to the fact that Americans don’t know how to drive (and don’t care).

[WeaponZero]

I don’t even know what a roundabout is. I don’t know what you’re complaining about with 4 way stop signs being bad, but then I’ve never known anything else.

[eon]

The problem with 4 way stops is that, by definition, it forces everyone to stop. Compare that to a roundabout where you only need to Yield (not Stop) to traffic from one direction only. You are obviously going to get a lot more traffic flowing through a roundabout than a 4 way stop. But my biggest problem with the 4 way is when it isn’t a 4 way (if that makes any sense). You approach an intersection and you are hunting around trying to figure out what the rules are. Sometimes that means reading a “Warning Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” sign or looking to see if there is a stop sign on the other roads. I even came across a 3 way stop sign the other day (with 4 roads leading into it). Talk about confusing. And then there is the 5 way stop close to me that is a crap shoot. I don’t have a problem navigating these but it causes traffic to back up as only one vehicle can get through at a time.

Roundabouts do break down though if there is a high volume of traffic going in one direction (typical in rush hour as traffic flows into/out of city). If you have to yield to that traffic you could be sitting there a long time before there is a gap big enough to go.

Here is a diagram from the UK DOT website on how to navigate them
(obviously reverse all directions for USA traffic).

Full link here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070338

[owlie]

We have a 3-way Stop on a four-way incoming next to the most popular pizza joint in Alaska. (Good pizza, okay parking except on First Tap nights (they’re also a microbrewery).

While it sort-of makes sense that the fourth way doesn’t stop at that particular intersection, it really jerks around with the right-of-way if you are trying to turn left. Mostly I avoid the intersection if I can and take an alternate route to get my slice of pie.

We’re seeing more traffic circles in town. I think that they have put a half dozen or so in in the last five years. While we all said that they were the stupidist idea ever, they actually aren’t that bad and traffic flows much more smoothly through one of the intersections that was redone (I’m not as familiar with the other locations).

[eon]

I read somewhere else that there are Federal funds available for installing traffic circles, that might explain why they are popping up everywhere. If they stick to the simple symmetrical example above then all is good. Soon as they start have lanes appearing mid circle then and 3+ lanes feeding into them then all is lost

[Author]

Posts