"TheRallyStache" (bryce-the-hoonigan)
06/10/2014 at 10:46 • Filed to: Intersections
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"TheRallyStache" (bryce-the-hoonigan)
06/10/2014 at 10:46 • Filed to: Intersections | 2
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Jamie and Adam decided to see which was more efficient, the American Four Way Stop or the European Roundabout. I think you can guess how this ends...
Svend
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 10:49 |
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And yet even after all this time there are still idiots here in the U.K. that don't know how to use them and stay on the outside to take the third exit and don't use their indicators.
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TheRallyStache
> Svend
06/10/2014 at 10:54 |
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That just proves that no matter where you live there are still stupid people. Indicators are neglected all the time on this side of the pond as well, and nobody freaking knows if it is their turn to go or not.
vdub_nut: scooter snob
> Svend
06/10/2014 at 11:08 |
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They put one in near me (because there's an airport nearby, preventing traffic lights, which the intersection really should have), and people will drive the wrong way around it on a daily basis. How are these people on the road?
Mosqvich
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 11:10 |
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We have them here in Colorado. They work, but seem to confuse older drivers. I'm ambivalent.
anonsagainstanonymous
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 11:13 |
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Out of curiosity, what's the proper american way to handle a four way intersection like this?
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Svend
> vdub_nut: scooter snob
06/10/2014 at 11:16 |
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It could be much worse for you though.
Take this roundabout (aka 'The Magic Roundabout') in Swindon, England.
thebigbossyboss
> vdub_nut: scooter snob
06/10/2014 at 11:23 |
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Once when I was young and retarded I decided I was sick of being behind some woman in her SUV, and proceeded to pass them going the wrong way through the roundabout, since were getting off at the same exit. Brilliant plan was brilliant.
That was about a decade ago, when I was a full blown idiot. Now I am still dumb, but not that dumb.
Nibbles
> Mosqvich
06/10/2014 at 11:26 |
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We went up to Vail for the weekend and I was rather surprised. Even people that live there - and I suppose use the roundabouts regularly - have no idea how to use them properly
philipilihp
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 11:26 |
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Let's brake 'em all and replace 'em with roundabouts!!
KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
> anonsagainstanonymous
06/10/2014 at 11:31 |
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Right of Way rules are a bit different than the European Priority to the Right.
At a 4 way stop, like the one in the video, if you get there first, you go first.
Note: All the following assumes Right Hand Traffic.
If you meet an opposing car, if one wants to turn left, the ideal way is to have the straight-on car proceed, and the left turning car turns behind the straight-on car.
The system of Priority Roads doesn't exist in the US, since the rule is unless you have a control device, and you are proceeding straight-on, you have the right of way, unless it is a 4 way uncontrolled intersection, in which case it's priority to the right.
Almost all side roads joining main roads have control devices of some description, so this negates the need for the Priority Road signs and the "You have the priority" signs.
llamaguy
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 11:31 |
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This doesn't take into account for idiots. Seriously. People do not move faster or safer through roundabouts.
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vdub_nut: scooter snob
> Svend
06/10/2014 at 11:31 |
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Fuck everything about that.
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TheRallyStache
> llamaguy
06/10/2014 at 11:45 |
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I think the point of this was simply to determine which system was more efficient, if people are competent careful drivers who pay attention. That last bit being key...
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anonsagainstanonymous
> KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
06/10/2014 at 11:51 |
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Ah, thanks. The people in the video seemed to handle it quite nicely anyway. I doubt an unregulated intersection like that would work as smoothly in Europe these days.
Garrett Davis
> Svend
06/10/2014 at 11:52 |
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Wow. I consider myself pretty round about savvy (even for a bloo'y yank), but fuck that looks confusing as shit.
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KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
> anonsagainstanonymous
06/10/2014 at 11:54 |
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In the US, this is considered a regulated intersection (Because all directions have a stop sign posted). If it was unregulated (No control signs at all), the number of cars they got in a 15 minute window would be abysmal.
Also, people rarely use their signals in the US, so it's generally even worse for throughput.
Orange Exige
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 11:55 |
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I was pretty confident that roundabouts - aka traffic circles* aka rotaries (according to my British-voiced GPS) - were superior and far more efficient, but for some reason I began to doubt when I saw that this was Mythbusters trying to (dis)prove it. Needless to say, my sanity was relieved by the end of the video and I forgot how much I loved Mythbusters.
Personally, I would have liked if they could have done some real world observations to further help the data and avoid the problem of unrealism in the experiment because as I saw it - particularly with the four-way stop - things were just too efficient. While both performances would decrease in the real world, I think four-way stops would decrease much more because people don't know when to go, they'll get stuck in the intersection, etc.
*according to Wikipedia, roundabouts and traffic circles are technically different things but that's a stupid technicality - I think many American will call those circular intersection alternatives "traffic circles" regardless of the distinction
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llamaguy
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 12:00 |
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It would be more efficient for people to just time their arrives to intersections so that they did not have to stop, but people can't do that either.
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Svend
> Garrett Davis
06/10/2014 at 12:21 |
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I suppose it's why it's also call the 'Gene-Pool Cleanser'. Tourists would just stick with going around the outside while locals (for some reason called 'Pro driver path') essentially drive through it.
Swindon has approximately 85 roundabouts to nearby Milton Keynes 130. With the area having some 300, 1,000 if you include painted roundabouts.
djmt1
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 13:48 |
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I hate roundabouts.
That's all.
ranwhenparked
> TheRallyStache
06/10/2014 at 18:42 |
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Part of the problem is that when roundabouts are retrofitted into existing intersections, they're often built way too small so that they work fine under light traffic conditions but still get all backed up and congested as badly as the traffic lights they replaced during rush hours. New York seems to be a pretty bad offender there, New Jersey actually seems to do a better job of creating enough space for traffic to merge.
Viggen
> TheRallyStache
06/11/2014 at 11:14 |
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We've got them in some parts of Massachusetts. They work well. Most military bases have them too, where they also work- except no one knows how to use them at first and treats them like four way stops.
R W
> TheRallyStache
06/12/2014 at 12:48 |
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Thats the american roundabout.
The euros use traffic circles, where the entering car has right of way.
They suck the big one.
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R W
> Orange Exige
06/12/2014 at 12:50 |
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its a major difference. right of way to the entering car or the car already in the circle. one is much worse.