Here’s one I’ve been meaning to write since I saw the article in Time Magazine several months ago…
Israelis, here’s your chance to laugh at American. Apparently, the US is just discovering what they’re calling the “roundabout.” This “roundabout” (think Dr. Evil’s air-quotes) facilitates several cars arriving to an intersection at the same time. The article goes as far as to explains why this confusing mechanism works in just five, YES, FIVE…points.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3…2…1….
IT’S A FREAKING KIKAR!!! IT AIN’T ROCKET SCIENCE, PEOPLE!
Move over, Watergate. This is some groundbreaking journalism.
Happy driving.
I think Americans have trouble with the concept that in order to turn left you have to go right first. This does not mesh with the idea that Americans can do whatever the heck they want, paving the way from A to B with the shortest line, and with guns blazing. Also, the rule-followers in the US would have trouble with the right-of-way. I can pretty much assure you that there will be several accidents before people get that the driver in the circle has the right of way, not the guy presumably on the right who is trying to get into the circle (though in Israel the guy with the biggest “eggs” has the right of way in every circumstance).
I wonder if they will Americanize the word “roundabout”…
New Jersey was full of them in the 1940′s and 1950′s: they were called “traffic circles.”
What do you mean ‘they’re calling the “roundabout.” ‘ ?
That is what it is called, and has been called for more than 50 years, at least in the UK.
You make it sound as if some idiots came up with a ridiculous word they made up by themselves.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout
and in French it’s called a “rond-point”, the most famous is the one at the Place de l’Étoile in Paris.
Look at the nice picture here http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rond-point
the more streets, the bigger the rond-point, and voilà!
How did they get to the Moon without knowing about rond-points?
Apparently, the US is just discovering what they’re calling the “roundabout.”
WFH are u talking about? Sure there is.
There is a round-about off the FDR at the Houston St exit.
There is also one by Prospect park and Coney island Avenue, although that one has traffic lights. And they won’t work in the city. No one from the heavy travelled direction is going to let anyone else in. The one at Houstan street barely works and if it wasn’t for the traffic light a block before, no one getting off the FDr would be able to move.
American drivers have trouble understanding some concepts, especially depending on the location…merging, roundabouts, traffic flow, COMMON SENSE…it’s far too difficult to drive and use one’s brain effectively, it seems.
In my area, people simply navigate roundabouts IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION when the want to go “left”. Some vehicles have actually gotten stuck! And of course no one understands the concept of right-of-way…
“Look kids…it’s Big Ben, and Parliament!!! This is amazing, I cannot got over!” – Clarke Griswold.
Am I the only one who prefers that people STOP sometimes? I can’t stand roundabouts…in any country. I prefer that Israelis learn that there are times in life you have to STOP and let someone else do their thing and WAIT to do your thing. Israeli drivers are incredibly discourteous, cars are banged up, they don’t use blinkers, they squeeze in wherever they want, including on the curb if they feel like it, and motorcycle drivers are the worst. This rings true on the bus, in the supermarket, on the sidewalks, in the bank, in the post office, etc. There are things I love about this country but traffic circles are NOT high on my list. Especially when they landscape them with enormous plants on hills (like in Bet Shemesh) so you can’t even see if anyone is coming!
This is the best, the so called "magic roundabout". (These guys drive on the left).
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.562842,-1.771481&ie=UTF8&ll=51.562837,-1.771481&spn=0.001327,0.002722&t=k&z=19
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swindon_Magic_Roundabout_eng.svg
They also have them in Massachusetts…..But the best one is in Tel Aviv on the way to the Ayalon from the hotels..(I forgot the name- ( Kikar Hameidna?? no)-I love it that people park in the middle of them, so they set up accidents like setting up glasses for a round of shots! Anyone who can navigate it should get their driver’s license immediately! (it should be part of the test! )
“They’re calling the ’roundabout’”….they’re calling it sarcasm. I’m making fun of the article, can’t you tell?
Ok, so they have 2 so-called roundabouts in the state of NY. This is a pretty new thing across America, as evidenced by AN ARTICLE IN TIME MAGAZINE. In 99.9% of intersections, there are traffic lights or 4 way stops.
As to why they don’t have four way stops here, Melissa, my old co-worker put it best (or at least in a way that made me laugh): why do anything that leaves decisions in the hands of drivers? “I stopped first! No, I stopped first!”
I should have written something about Kikar Medina which is just freaking huge. Every time you drive around it, you have no idea how far you’ve gone. Wait, are we halfway around? Or did we just drive in a complete circle. It’s sort of like circling the world…it’s so big, you can’t tell it’s not flat.
I have to second you on Kikar HaMedina – I end up circling it at least 2x before I find my right “exit” and can wade through the gauntlet called “the rest of traffic” (and survive) to get there…. …and roundabouts are the best. Was happy when they hit the Pac Northwest a few years back.
There’s a traffic circle in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside NY, built and designed post WWII.
The worst one here is the one near Adam, north of Jerusalem. One of the roads is judenrein. Jews are stopped from entering. Arabs go on all the roads.
Benji! I’m disappointed that traffic circle installation is a new concept to you. You remember Kris Kross, but you don’t remember the great Austin traffic circle installation of 1998? It’s clearly been too long since you’ve visited Hyde Park Bar & Gril and gotten some of their fries — b’ima sheli those fries are amazing!
Those fries were amazing….now who the hell is this? Identify yourself, Yonkeleh!!! (Otherwise, buy me a burger from Crown and Anchor.)
hahahahaha!! fabulous!! Now Americans just need the yellow/red “start your engines” signal at traffic lights, and they’ll be well on their way to learning how to drive.
Btw, my favorite traffic circle is in Haifa just past the Moshava Hagermanit… it’s shaped like an amoeba. It’s a never-ending construction project that never fails to impress me… I never knew you could lay concrete barriers in a wave pattern.
Benji, there is a whole chapter dedicated to roundabouts in the Traffic book you gave me.
I was wondering why there were all these 4-ways stops (weird invention… why not use 2-ways stop?) every few meters in the States…
)
Now I know… They just had no idea that a better solution existed in the rest of the world…
I hate the roundabouts, they are annoying, and for people crossing it makes it harder, straight lines people!