Want to avoid morons? Move to Idaho.

[buickgnx88]

The Michigan Lefts I've been in (around Ada) all have had stop lights where the turn around is, so people don't have to try and merge into the traffic. In my opinion, they don't offer much more compared to a standard intersection since you have to go past your turn and double back.

 

[Keef]

It saves greatly on the number of wrecks, confusion, and especially the time it takes to cycle left turn signals at intersections.

 

[Joey D]

It is faster I think, we have a couple normal intersections in my area and I think I prefer the Michigan lefts better.

 

[Moglet]

I have been studying this for the past day or so,I think it is finally coming together.
But of course,that is easier said than done,perhaps in real life if I was there,I would probably freak out.

I was a bit freaked out driving up to it and I'm used to complicated roundabouts! It all seems nice and easy until you realise that other people are the problem, most of them have no idea how to navigate it and the traffic can be chaos.

The best bit is seeing people driving up to it not realising it's there until they see this sign;

Oh, and there are videos of people driving round it, just turn the volume down so you can't hear what this idiot has added over the top;



Wish I'd taken a video of my friend flying over it without stopping in the middle of the night, I feared for my life!

Is going around that twice the equivalent of driving through a tunnel full of flaming spikes?

Oh and please tell me the address of that interesection; i really, really want to see how Google Maps interprets directions that cross through it. "Drive 40 miles north to avoid cluster**ck."

Here's the link;
http://www.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=51.562805,-1.771438&spn=0.002441,0.004147&t=h&z=18

 

[homeforsummer]

I got 85% on that test without looking at what anyone else in the thread had mentioned about the questions. I got the traffic light with flashing red wrong (I put "yield" instead of "stop"), the fog light question (I put "fogs" instead of "low beams"), and the steady yellow light one wrong (put "be prepared to stop" instead of "stop if safe").

Not bad considering those traffic signal ones aren't used in the UK. The fog one I probably should have got right as you're supposed to use low beams in the UK too, but then if visibility is really bad you should use fogs if you have them. Ideally, there should have been a "both" answer.

Re: The magic roundabout - in theory it's probably quite simple, but spoiled in practice by the fact that most UK drivers struggle with normal, single roundabouts let alone multiple ones.

 

[Kylehnat]

I got the traffic light with flashing red wrong (I put "yield" instead of "stop"),

At least in my neck of the woods, this is not a common situation. Traffic signals will be flashing red when the power has gone out, at which point you treat them as four-way stops.

 

[Keef]

It happens around here quite often because they've been doing a lot of work on the traffic signal system near my house. Typically the main road will all have flashing yellows for caution, while the smaller intersecting roads will have flashing reds, meaning you stop and wait for an opening.

 

[Jim Prower]

Y'know, i think it might be kinda fun to close that off and hold a gymkahna event, driving around the little circles in the same order as you would tighten nuts on a 5-lug wheel...

It's an interesting solution, I suppose. Instead of making cars stop for lengths of time, you keep traffic flowing...supposedly...

We have a "Roundabout" of sorts in our town, the Historic Square. Of course, there's a problem, here.

You see, It's not meant for traffic safety. There is only one lane, and one road goes straight across one side of the loop. As well, people...um...park on the edge.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...wKcJ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

Use the street view to get a feel for the layout. It's interesting...Peoria/Walnut Street (AKA US Route 24) goes straight through the center of the circle (which has a small park in the middle, so we don't have the crossing straight over problems...if every roundabout had a fountain...) while Main street goes straight across the west side of the square. Traffic going Northbound must loop around the square.

The area is also a business district, so there's parking on all four sides of the square formed by the buildings. (hence the term, "Square") This gets interesting when wants to get into or out of a spot. Because US 24 is a major route as well, the Square is frequented by heavy truck traffic. As well, because it's a business district, Pedestrian traffic is very heavy, and all crosswalks are thus blatantly marked out.

There is a stop sign governing both sides or Main Street, while US 24 is governed by yield signs.

 

[Moglet]

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...wKcJ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

All I can see there is a long straight road

This is a roundabout local to me that everyone hates since it has loads of traffic lights on it;

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...3872,-1.726425&spn=0.002408,0.003803&t=h&z=18

It's really annoying when you're on one of the outside 2 lanes and somebody from one of the inside 3 lanes cuts over to take the exit you're heading towards

There is also this junction nearby;
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...0358,-1.864243&spn=0.009638,0.015213&t=k&z=16

 

[Philly]

It happens around here quite often because they've been doing a lot of work on the traffic signal system near my house. Typically the main road will all have flashing yellows for caution, while the smaller intersecting roads will have flashing reds, meaning you stop and wait for an opening.

They do that in Holland after maybe 11 pm or so. I have no idea why they don't do this more often, because this is a pretty brilliant solution to having to wait at a stoplight for 5 minutes in the middle of the night.

There is also this junction nearby;

Freeway interchanges usually aren't that bad. They have pretty clear signs to tell you what goes where and how to get there I find. It looks like they actually did a pretty decent job of making something reasonable out of a recipe for disaster. I'm sure there's worse in LA though.

There are a few spots in Seattle that will make you think the city allowed drunk monkeys to design parts of the road system. It can get pretty confusing if you don't know what you're about to get in to.

The five-way stop. Isn't this why roundabouts were invented? That one is pretty confusing if you just stumble across it.

And then there is this mess. It's not hard to figure out how to get where you need to go, but it is quite unnecessary I think. And there is also the bit where you have little more than 150 feet to merge onto a 50 mph road from a near stop before you hit the concrete barrier...

 

[Jim Prower]

All I can see there is a long straight road

This is a roundabout local to me that everyone hates since it has loads of traffic lights on it;

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...3872,-1.726425&spn=0.002408,0.003803&t=h&z=18

It's really annoying when you're on one of the outside 2 lanes and somebody from one of the inside 3 lanes cuts over to take the exit you're heading towards

There is also this junction nearby;
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...0358,-1.864243&spn=0.009638,0.015213&t=k&z=16

Damnit, You're right.

Here, try this...you'll have to click on one of the businesses and zoom in, but that should work.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Washington IL Square&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl