Why I see so many videos of Americans having trouble with roundabouts? It’s not a problem in my country and I don’t know many instances of that in other countries. But I’ve read a lot of stuff regarding roundabouts in the US. Why is it a problem?

33 comments

  1. It’s only most Americans. Rotaries (as my people call them) are definitely not a problem in New England.

  2. They’re not common here, older people probably never saw them until the last 20-30 years. So they probably didn’t teach their kids about them. Most people I know that around my age (early 30s) know what they’re doing though.

  3. They aren’t common in many parts of the country. People unfamiliar with them don’t always know what to do.

  5. I’ve only been confused once – when there was a traffic light like midway thru.

    How do you have a traffic circle and a stoplight?! Lol

  6. They’re a problem because there’s just not that many of them. I know of…seven, I think, that I’ve driven through. In a city of around 800,000 people. I’m sure there are more, but there’s seven I know about. And only one I drive through on a regular basis.

  7. >Why I see so many videos of Americans having trouble with roundabouts?

    Because you looked for them.

    >It’s not a problem in my country

    Okay.

    >I don’t know many instances of that in other countries.

    You didn’t look for them.

    >But I’ve read a lot of stuff regarding roundabouts in the US. Why is it a problem?

    It’s not really. They’re less common than stoplights, but most people don’t have an issue. You looked for instances of Americans having issues, found them, and convinced yourself that this is a widespread problem.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias

  9. We really only started getting them like 15-20 years ago so many people were driving before them and are not able to get new habits well.

    And then after dealing with enough people who do the weirdest things on them others start just being extra cautious in ways that could be seen as not doing them completely right.

    And then you’ve got your general bad drivers. We’ve got a lot of people in this country which means we’ve got a lot of people on the road who really shouldn’t be.

  10. You think you’d be interested in videos of Americans not having trouble at roundabouts? That’s your answer.

  11. Most don’t have problems with them because they aren’t used in their area.

    I live in the US capital of roundabouts. IMO they’re great for moving a predictable, moderate amount of traffic through, which is what Carmel, Indiana has. They are not great at handling a large amount of unpredictable traffic like you may get in a large arterial road or congested, dense urban areas. They also kind of suck for pedestrians because pedestrians may have to yield up to 7x to make it to the other side of the street, and pedestrians never have the right of way (in Indiana) without a designated crossing signal.

    Roundabouts are also more expensive to install than a traffic signal, and require a larger footprint which means more cost and more land acquisition.

  12. Not many but also state traffic laws differ from state to state. Some states the car entering the circle has the right of way, others, it’s the car in the circle has the right of way.

  13. Since everyone drives in the US, it means EVERYONE drives. Inexperienced people, tired people, and full blown morons all drive.

    Oh, also roundabouts aren’t as common here.

  14. They aren’t common.

    (but do you mean a rotary or a roundabout. They are different)

  15. I think we are pretty used to them around my area in California

    Maybe before over 65 have trouble

  16. I had never been on one until I was like 20. So having never being on one so just a lack of experience I guess.

    I’m like Clark in national lampoon European vacation lol.

    Also, I call them roundy rounds

  17. No issues at the one(s) nearest me, but they’re fairly small and just in residential neighborhoods. They’re not too common everywhere though, there are only two or three near me.

    I also imagine it’s not a very entertaining post if it’s just a video of people using it correctly.

  18. I have been driving for 30 years. I have driven on 3 roundabouts in 30 years, 2 in Houston and one in Waco, TX. They are very rare in the U.S. My driving school I went to in 1991 did not teach us about roundabouts. I learned by suddenly driving onto a roundabout.

  19. They aren’t all the common and it breaks a well ingrained habit of slowing or stopping at busy intersections. It’s like going back to when they first learned to drive when they didn’t know what to focus on and what to ignore, but now you’re trying to fight your own autopilot.

    But if someone cannot get used to one after a few attempts, that’s just poor driving.

    My biggest pain point with them is if pedestrians are involved. That’s still takes some getting used to, especially if there are a lot of signs on posts cluttering things and suggesting movement as I follow the curve.

  20. Because it’s new to them. When anyone dies something they aren’t familiar with they are likely to not be perfect at it immediately. Everyone has to learn sometime and you’re always going to look weird or awkward as you try something you haven’t done before and that’s natural.

  21. Around me we have roundabouts and no one seems to have any issue. Carmel, IN near where I grew up replaced almost all their intersections with roundabouts. It was a little bit weird at first but no one has an issue.

  22. Most of us never see them and are thus unfamiliar. I’ve only been on two in my life, and one of those only once.

  23. Because nobody is posting videos of Americans handling roundabouts like a normal person and nobody would watch them if they did.

  24. I dunno, because I haven’t seen it. We didn’t have any around us in Georgia, then they installed one, and I never saw anyone have any trouble with it. Then I moved to North Carolina. There weren’t any around me, then they installed like 3 of them, and I never saw anyone have any trouble with it. I still haven’t seen anyone not know how a roundabout works. So this whole meme is something that I don’t get.

  26. Honest to goodness, I can only think of one that I know of and it’s about a hundred miles from here.

  27. Dude, you’re Russian – you guys have trouble with basic military logistics. Why is it a problem?

  28. We just didn’t have them in this area for a long time because we are a developed country and could afford signals at most intersections. We are starting to put them in now in some lower traffic places. I will say that where they do build them now, they are head and shoulders above typical roundabouts in the rest of the world. They are larger, wider lanes, much better signage and road markings, etc.

  29. Why are you watching videos of Americans driving in the first place? Plenty of roundabouts in my area – no one has trouble anymore.

  30. I’d been driving for 9 years before the first time I encountered one and that was in Mexico. I probably went another 5 years without knowing that they were called “roundabouts” or “traffic circles” as I had only ever heard their name in Spanish. It’s probably only been the past 10 years or so that I’ve started to encounter them in the US.

  31. When you’ve never seen something before and you encounter it for the first time while driving a machine that, if you mess up badly enough, can kill people, it makes it a bit stressful.

    I live in a rural area. I don’t think I saw one until I was in my late teens. My mom was driving at the time and was very stressed and uncertain of how to navigate it. It was fine and she did it perfectly, but if you didn’t grow up with them, they can be very intimidating. Especially if the city you’re driving in is already a little tricky to navigate and the signs aren’t place in a helpful manner, but that’s a separate rant for another day.

  32. You’ve seen a few videos, not considering the possibly millions of drivers that boringly, successfully, navigate roundabouts every single day.

  33. There are a LOT of different sorts of roundabouts here, which adds to the confusion for people who are already unfamiliar with the concept. When someone talks about a roundabout, or a rotary, or a traffic circle, you need to ask for more information about what they’re actually describing. We have everything from a small roundabout taking the place of a proper intersection, to a confluence of three separate highways intersecting at a huge traffic circle with multiple lanes etc. A new roundabout was built near me that also incorporates a dedicated lane for a bus transit system, and it’s a complete mess.

    People probably won’t have such trouble in those small intersection roundabouts. But the bigger and more complex the roundabouts get, the more likely it is you’ll have people who don’t know what they’re doing.

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