Roundabouts at Disney

[lazyboy97o]

because statistics outweigh anecdotal evidence?

I’m going to stop wearing a seatbelt. Everyone I know who has been in an accident was wearing a seatbelt but I don’t know anyone who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was in an accident.

 

[G00fyDad]

I mean if you want to be the one to drive the wrong way in a roundabout, have at it?

There's also a risk of being hit by lightning in a thunderstorm so it would be best to never ever go outside.

I can count on one finger how many times someone here has been hit by lightening. But you know what we have lost count of? Accidents in the roundabout near here. And it is not just a cute little circle with pretty flowers in the middle with birds chirping a sweet melody. This thing has traffic flying into it from two directions of an interstate highway and two directions from a state highway. Oh, did I forget to mention that there are TWO of them? These things have claimed lives already.

This is literally the roundabout I am talking about. Left/right is I-265 and top/bottom is IN-62. Traffic is flying into this deathtrap at 65mph East and West and 50+mph North and South. I get the impression you thought I was referring to some cute little cirle in some random suburban neighborhood.

 

[G00fyDad]

I just realized how much time I spent today talking about these stupid roundabouts and my point of view as if I ever stood the chance of changing someone else's mind about them. Wow. I'm done. You win. I am wrong. Have a nice day folks.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

it may be enabling the stupid, but one of them is near a middle school and when I saw a 12 year old be care flighted out because of people not knowing how to use the stupid roundabout , I knew it was time to get rid of them.

Man, I'd hate to see those drivers in NJ, trying to negotiate a jug handle...

 

[Jon81uk]

I can count on one finger how many times someone here has been hit by lightening. But you know what we have lost count of? Accidents in the roundabout near here. And it is not just a cute little circle with pretty flowers in the middle with birds chirping a sweet melody. This thing has traffic flying into it from two directions of an interstate highway and two directions from a state highway. Oh, did I forget to mention that there are TWO of them? These things have claimed lives already.

This is literally the roundabout I am talking about. Left/right is I-265 and top/bottom is IN-62. Traffic is flying into this deathtrap at 65mph East and West and 50+mph North and South. I get the impression you thought I was referring to some cute little cirle in some random suburban neighborhood.

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I would advise not taking a motorway in the UK then, a significant number of junctions have roundabouts, so you leave the 70mph+ motorway and slow down to yield at the roundabout and it works just fine. There must be something about the standard of American driving tests that mean drivers over there are less safe?

What if there was a stop light instead, would cars still have problems slowing down from 65mph to come to a stop at the junction instead?

 

[RustySpork]

I would advise not taking a motorway in the UK then, a significant number of junctions have roundabouts, so you leave the 70mph+ motorway and slow down to yield at the roundabout and it works just fine. There must be something about the standard of American driving tests that mean drivers over there are less safe?

There is no real formal drivers education, and testing is multiple choice along with a short driving test to make sure you're at least good enough to not hit mailboxes during testing. Poor driving habits are also passed from generation to generation. Traffic laws varying from state to state is problematic as well, as people can't be bothered to learn the variations.

What if there was a stop light instead, would cars still have problems slowing down from 65mph to come to a stop at the junction instead?

They do here in Orlando, yes.

 

[Jon81uk]

There is no real formal drivers education, and testing is multiple choice along with a short driving test to make sure you're at least good enough to not hit mailboxes during testing.

Oh wow. I would imagine most US drivers would find it very hard to pass a UK test then. To get a license here you need to do a multiple choice test and then a full practical examination. Formal tuition isn't compulsory but its harder to pass the test without it.

 

[RustySpork]

Oh wow. I would imagine most US drivers would find it very hard to pass a UK test then. To get a license here you need to do a multiple choice test and then a full practical examination. Formal tuition isn't compulsory but its harder to pass the test without it.

We have various driving schools here, they teach you the bare minimum basics...which is enough to pass the test. What I'm saying here is you're probably right about that.

 

[G00fyDad]

I would advise not taking a motorway in the UK then, a significant number of junctions have roundabouts, so you leave the 70mph+ motorway and slow down to yield at the roundabout and it works just fine. There must be something about the standard of American driving tests that mean drivers over there are less safe?

What if there was a stop light instead, would cars still have problems slowing down from 65mph to come to a stop at the junction instead?

I've been to the UK. I have absolutely zero trouble negotiating these things. It is the potato head driving he car next to me about nearly soiling their pants at the sheer terror they feel driving though them that is the problem. A stop light would help but the one near here only have yield signs and NO ONE in America pays any attention to them.

 

[G00fyDad]

Oh wow. I would imagine most US drivers would find it very hard to pass a UK test then. To get a license here you need to do a multiple choice test and then a full practical examination. Formal tuition isn't compulsory but its harder to pass the test without it.

It is the same here in the US with slight differences maybe. We have to take a multiple choice test and pass a physical driving test.

I even took driver's education WAY back in high school before I got my license on my 16th birthday. My son got his permit (can ONLY drive with someone over 18) at 15 years old and held that until he got his license at 16 and 3 months. He took a driver's education course with a certified training school for 6 months. Then he turned 16 on July 4th and on October 2nd he took his physical driving test. I am very confident in his abilities. It is the other people on the road not paying attention to signs and playing on their phones while driving that scare me.

 

[G00fyDad]

Not in America but this is the kind of thing you see in these things over here all the time.

 

[networkpro]

Oh wow. I would imagine most US drivers would find it very hard to pass a UK test then. To get a license here you need to do a multiple choice test and then a full practical examination. Formal tuition isn't compulsory but its harder to pass the test without it.

Licensing standards vary between states as do driving conditions and average traffic density. I imagine that someone from the Metropolitan London area would have a different set of driving skills than one from Blairgowrie.

 

[Jon81uk]

Licensing standards vary between states as do driving conditions and average traffic density. I imagine that someone from the Metropolitan London area would have a different set of driving skills than one from Blairgowrie.

Yes but the test they undertake will be marked to the same criteria. I'm originally from a fairly rural area and the examiner had to take a specific route back to the test centre to ensure I drove on a dual carriageway. The examiner had to "tick off" the various different types of road and manorveres.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Not in America but this is the kind of thing you see in these things over here all the time.

Ah, Ontario, where everyone is so nice and friendly... until they get in their cars, then it becomes Mad Max/ Death Race 2000.

BTW, often the main reason for taking a driver's education class in the US is that it gives you a discount on auto insurance. For most, though, I think the lessons stick about as well as high school biology and chemistry.

One of the biggest differences in driving behavior between Europe and the US, though, is the certainty of enforcement in the former. In the US, bad driving and speeding will only result in a penalty in the low probability that the police actually observe it, and even then, they may only pull over the worst offender. In Europe, though, the all-seeing, all-knowing Blitzkamera will make no such distinctions and flag every single offender. When I lived in Germany, I quickly lost my North American habit of viewing the posted speed limit as a suggestion, lest I receive more "souvenir photos" of myself driving in the mail. Keeps your driving habits much more honest.

 

[G00fyDad]

Ah, Ontario, where everyone is so nice and friendly... until they get in their cars, then it becomes Mad Max/ Death Race 2000.

BTW, often the main reason for taking a driver's education class in the US is that it gives you a discount on auto insurance. For most, though, I think the lessons stick about as well as high school biology and chemistry.

One of the biggest differences in driving behavior between Europe and the US, though, is the certainty of enforcement in the former. In the US, bad driving and speeding will only result in a penalty in the low probability that the police actually observe it, and even then, they may only pull over the worst offender. In Europe, though, the all-seeing, all-knowing Blitzkamera will make no such distinctions and flag every single offender. When I lived in Germany, I quickly lost my North American habit of viewing the posted speed limit as a suggestion, lest I receive more "souvenir photos" of myself driving in the mail. Keeps your driving habits much more honest.

I agree that the majority use it this way and forget what they learned. My children are a good example though. My daughter (now 24) took a driving course and even got her license at 18 instead of 16 (her choice) and she forgot everything she ever heard in that course. My son (16) is a different case. He took the course and is still trying to correct me if he sees me do something I probably shouldn't. I couldn't be happier with his progress and retention of information. But then again he has a better than 4.0gpa in school. My daughter's report card if read aloud would sound like "Fffffffffffd!" and she refused to commit to learning anything. Total night and day.

 

[ABQ]

Best it still the whacky Swindon roundabout that defies all with 7 roundabouts in one.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

I mean if you want to be the one to drive the wrong way in a roundabout, have at it?

There's also a risk of being hit by lightning in a thunderstorm so it would be best to never ever go outside.

Why are you so obsessed with stupid roundabouts? I never said I can't use them , but there are other drivers on the road and from the amount of wrecks I have seen on these stupid useless things, and NO LIFE is worth it for a stupid roundabout. I don't get your obsession. They really are stupid and don't work. Maybe they are great for Europe but not here.

 

[Andrew C]

There must be something about the standard of American driving tests that mean drivers over there are less safe?

I don't remember ever covering or driving through roundabouts in driving school. Probably because there are/were just not that many. However, if you pay attention and read road signs like a good driver, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Jon81uk]

Why are you so obsessed with stupid roundabouts? I never said I can't use them , but there are other drivers on the road and from the amount of wrecks I have seen on these stupid useless things, and NO LIFE is worth it for a stupid roundabout. I don't get your obsession. They really are stupid and don't work. Maybe they are great for Europe but not here.

But if they work in Europe and many other parts of the world then I don't think its the roundabout that is stupid and more likely it is the Americans.

 

[Andrew C]

But if they work in Europe and many other parts of the world then I don't think its the roundabout that is stupid and more likely it is the Americans.

or...some people here just overreact to change and the majority are intelligent enough to handle them just fine. But as we know, some people are just bad drivers, whether they are not paying attention and run a stop sign, or they fly into the air through a roundabout.