Roundabouts do not cause tornadoes

[Mike Lewis]

One less thing to worry about:

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_bri...-expert-debunk

[bborzell]

I became familiar with roundabouts or rotaries as the GPS in my French rental car called them while tooling around France in 2015. Up to that point, we had not really seen them in California (smart chip credit cards were just coming out in the US, too).

After we came home, we started seeing both the chips and rotaries. I liked to think that we brought both ideas back with us.

Never saw a wind disturbance at a rotary or an ATM, though.

[Mike Lewis]

Recently I listened to a Freakonomics podcast about this type of intersection. The podcast said that traffic circles and roundabouts are actually two different things. The roundabouts are small, with one or two lanes, connect two roads, and aren't controlled by traffic lights. Traffic circles are large, multi-lane intersections that use traffic lights and control the intersection of two or more roads. I think the other term for traffic circles was rotaries.

Although roundabouts have a higher accident rate than conventional intersections, they have a much lower fatality rate. That's why traffic engineers like them. Americans don't like them, the podcast said, in part because we think roundabouts are "foreign". That was interesting.

[nepaweb]

The original caller to WNEP Talkback 16 that started the idea of roundabouts causing 'tornaders"

Gotta love Scranton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoS-pMWCnvk

[HABBERDABBER]

Someone, a relative living there, I think, said the roundabouts were initially used in the USA in Carmel, Indiana. I don't know about the tornadic activity they may have brought along with them.

Can the thought process get more confounded to imagine that road traffic causes tornadoes? Rhetorical question.... I have my answer....and it's a BIG YES!!!

[Mike G]

If the roundabout were unpaved, maybe the passing vehicles could stir up a dust devil or two.

[Iowa Dave]

A very interesting round about that looks to be very old is in the town of Angola Indiana. A large statue of a civil was soldier sets in the middle of the circle. Well at least It did yet in 2009 the last time I was downtown there .
I have been to Pokagon State Park near Angola many times over the years. Nice park with lots of features and some great CCC buildings and a refrigerated toboggan run ( not Dometic).
Iowa Dave

[MyronL]

In New Jersey I grew up with "circles". The Livingston circle, the Ledgewood circle, the Flemington circle, the - well, we had a lot of them wherever main arteries converged. A traffic flow solution from the 1930's, I think. All gone now. I learned of the alternate term roundabout when I encountered one in my rental car in England. Yes it scared the hell out of me.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by MyronL

In New Jersey I grew up with "circles". The Livingston circle, the Roxbury circle, the Flemington circle, the - well, we had a lot of them wherever main arteries converged. A traffic flow solution from the 1930's, I think. All gone now. I learned of the alternate term roundabout when I encountered one in my rental car in England. Yes it scared the hell out of me.

I encountered roundabouts in a serious way while driving in England. Initially, I did not know what I was doing and I was lucky to not get into an accident. My client took pity on me and did a 10 minute intro to do's and don'ts - and it got better. While I an now totally comfortable with them in England, I don't like them in the US. Proper driving etiquette for roundabouts (particularly multi-lane ones) is not understood equally well by all drivers. They are not very comfortable when towing a camper behind either.

[HABBERDABBER]

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about th’universe!"

credited to Albert Einstein

[Mike Lewis]

Drivers including myself need to be trained on how to navigate roundabouts. I don't know when to use the inner lane on the two-lane roundabouts, for instance. I get confused.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Drivers including myself need to be trained on how to navigate roundabouts. I don't know when to use the inner lane on the two-lane roundabouts, for instance. I get confused.

I stay in the inner lane when I know I'm not exiting and then move over to outer lane when my exit is nearing.....

[Bobbie54]

They are the devil's invention. Horrid for trailers and motorhomes. Horrid for people who aren't sure where they are going. And impossible for visually impaired and dangerous for other disabled persons. I hate them so much.

But we have them here on Whidbey (thank God only on the north end but I have to go that way with the trailer frequently) and we haven't had any tornadoes since they went in here.

[azjack]

Years ago we were exposed in Europe and they were easy, except In Germany. The names of our exit would be so long that I had at times make a couple of passes to pick out the correct exit.
AZjack

[Ronn]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Drivers including myself need to be trained on how to navigate roundabouts. I don't know when to use the inner lane on the two-lane roundabouts, for instance. I get confused.

I am amazed by some of the public service announcements we keep getting year after after year, yet I do not recall ever seeing a public service announcement helping people new to roundabouts negotiate them.

I do like them, the ones I am most familiar with replaced four way stop intersections, intersections which can try most peoples patience during busy times!

[JeffreyG]

I got no problem navigating roundabouts, but my dogs hate them.

I have sighthounds, and they don't really like cars much to start with being prone to motion sickness. So they really don't like roundabouts because the car lurches side to side as you go through.

I take routes that avoid the local roundabouts when traveling with the dogs.

[ATHiker]

The good thing is that if you miss your turn, you get another chance................

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by MyronL

In New Jersey I grew up with "circles". The Livingston circle, the Ledgewood circle, the Flemington circle, the - well, we had a lot of them wherever main arteries converged. A traffic flow solution from the 1930's, I think. All gone now. I learned of the alternate term roundabout when I encountered one in my rental car in England. Yes it scared the hell out of me.

Myron: Flemington Circle is still there but much improved. They incorporated bypasses now that help tremendously.

[pkgman51]

Whilst doing some sightseeing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula I passed a fruit stand I wanted to visit. There was a round-about a mile past the stand that made making a u-turn quite convenient. Sometimes they come in handy.

[MyronL]

Rubi my memory of Flemington is that of a charming, quaint farm town, wood stands at the fairgrounds, stock car races. I look at that aerial picture of the circle, once the most modern thing in the area, now all that pavement, and all I can think to say is ...duck! it's a tornado and there goes the neighborhood.