SoCS September 1, 2018 – Roundabouts
The prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday, September 1, 2018, is “round.” Use it as a word by itself or find a word that contains it. Bonus points if you start and/or finish your post with it. – Linda G. Hill
Roundabouts are where several junctions meet from a different direction. The design of roundabouts is to keep the traffic flowing. Traffic only flows in one direction around the island in the center of the roundabout. This circular road is a one-way street and may have one or more lanes. The traffic entering the roundabout must give way to traffic already on the roundabout unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic light.
The first time my husband encountered a roundabout was in Australia. He loved it because the traffic kept flowing.
It was also the first time he drove a car with the driver’s seat on the right. Even though I was in the passenger’s seat on the left, my eyes looked at the right when the car turned to left. When we walked across the pedestrian, there was a sign on the ground to remind people to look RIGHT for the oncoming cars.
I read the news about roundabouts in England. Some tourists were new to drive on roundabouts. They entered the roundabout but couldn’t decide which street to exit, so they kept going around and around on the roundabout. They drove slower because they tried to read the signs on the streets or the exits. The local folks were not happy about the hesitant drivers.
In 2016, one website posted a video on The Brilliant Sorcery of England’s 7-Circle Magic Roundabout This would be more confusing to the tourists.
Roundabouts are not frequent road designs in the USA, one roundabout per 1,118 intersections. There are stop signs in the intersections. In a 4-way intersection, the car comes to the stop sign first has the right-of-way to cross, followed by the next car comes to the intersection. In the residential areas, there are no traffic lights but have the stop signs every few blocks. The drivers make many stop-and-goes before they go through the street.
I have a friend who drove his manual transmission Porsche to work. When he was ready to buy a new car, he counted that he made 147 stops from home to office. He later bought an automatic transmission new car.
In Orange County, California where I live, I have only seen three areas with roundabouts.
The Showers of Blessings 
In my country they are removing roundabouts and replacing it with traffic lights, which in my opinion is waaayy much better than the roundabouts and helps to reduce accidents some how!
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Yes, some roundabouts are confusing and I could see that it could cause accidents. I’m sure your country did the study and made the right decision!
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Now you have done roundabouts the next SoC should be swings 🙂
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Haha, I have stories about swings. 🙂
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Once you get used to them, roundabouts are wonderfully efficient! 🙂 ❤ ❤
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Yes, we love the one around our neighborhood. ❤ 🙂
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They just put in a roundabout (or traffic circle, as I like to call them) not far from us. Once you get used to them, they’re pretty efficient.
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Hi John, the ones in our area are not big circles and we like them. I like the flow instead of stop-and-go. Thank you for your comment!
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This is why i failed my practical test. I don’t like those big ones. The mini are ok but those big ones are really confusing. Thanks for sharing, Miriam.
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Yes, Nahla, thank you. I watched YouTube on driving the roundabouts in UK, some of them have good instructions with illustrations for driving test. Have you passed your test yet?
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Not yet, Miriam, sometimes i think to give up.
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Nahla, you can search the internet for roundabouts in UK. Several of them are from driving schools.
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I will thanks so much
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You’re welcome, Nahla!
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Love that you wrote about roundabouts, too. Great minds, right? (And the aerial shot is neat!)
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Thank you, Laura, for reading and comment. I’ve driven in small roundabouts by our home. I like the flow instead of stopping at the stop signs! ❤
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I guess I have grown up with and just treat them as the norm. Nice SoCs.💜
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Thank you, Willow! One report says that one city in the US constructed all the streets to roundabouts. It saved enormous time on driving, gasoline, and reduced accidents. ❤
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Well it can really help💜💜
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When I was in Seattle years and years ago, I saw a sight says, “Don’t make California Stop.” I think we do that, touch the gas paddle a little, then keep going. ❤
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Lol 🤣🤣🤣
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Ha ha. 🙂 ❤
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Nasty roundabouts. I drove to Milton Keynes once sixteen roundabouts I manouvered on my two hour journey … I avoid going there in fact I have never gone back. Good post nicely done.😃
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Thank you for reading. I would be nervous to go on the roundabout. I looked at that video of 7-Circle magic roundabout. It looks scary to me to drive around it. Yes, if you have other options, you don’t want to go back to get frustrated. 🙂
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Or bashed by someone going wrong 😓😲
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Exactly, I’ve seen people going the wrong way. :-(. I did it once in a new city going the wrong way on a one-way street. Good thing it was at night and I was the only one on that street. 🙂
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Thank goodness for that!
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It was scary for a moment!
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