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Posted by John Hopkins
- July 01, 2013, 13:21:47 PMYou are supposed to treat them as you would a T junction, give way to oncoming traffic and if something is already on the roundabout wait until they have passed your entrance..on the larger ones you can go if there is the same amount of space between you and the approaching vehicle as you would allow for oncoming traffic on a T junction or cross road..
It's common sense really..you don't pull out if someone is close enough to have to brake to avoid running into you..
John.
Posted by greenbarn
- July 01, 2013, 11:10:35 AMQuote from: DC on July 01, 2013, 07:26:02 AMThat's the main problem I see with them. Most people get the hang of them, but when somebody new comes along, who maybe isn't as familiar with them, then it's a pretty strange concept to "aggressively and purposefully" (well put), enter them, and the end result may not be so great. Trouble is the one guy is aggressively purposefully, and the other guy is "huh??" and then it's down hill from there.Living next door to New Jersey, I've been around them most of my life. They have big ones and small ones. In New Jersey you have aggressively and purposefully enter them, or you'll be mowed down by the cars behind you.
They just installed one around here a year or two ago and, at first, peeps were completely baffled by it. After a while, most peeps got the hang of it. They're fun, as long as everyone follows the yield rules. If not, they can turn into demolition derby . . .which I've also seen happen.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- July 01, 2013, 09:35:08 AMah more rules to follow..........man
Posted by Troll
- July 01, 2013, 07:42:24 AMBut that's the key factor isn't it...everybody following the rules.
Posted by DC
- July 01, 2013, 07:26:02 AMLiving next door to New Jersey, I've been around them most of my life. They have big ones and small ones. In New Jersey you have aggressively and purposefully enter them, or you'll be mowed down by the cars behind you.
They just installed one around here a year or two ago and, at first, peeps were completely baffled by it. After a while, most peeps got the hang of it. They're fun, as long as everyone follows the yield rules. If not, they can turn into demolition derby . . .which I've also seen happen.
Posted by John Hopkins
- June 30, 2013, 07:51:15 AMI think we invented them, we have thousands of them, singles, doubles, triples, quads..we even have them painted on the road..some I can take at 50mph and others at 30mph others I have to stop for..because we drive on the left the rule is give way to the right so the speed I take the roundabout at depends on how far away I can see the oncoming traffic..There is always a sign to warn me when I am approaching one so I have plenty of time to slow down if I need to..
I hate city riding, traffic lights within 20 yards of each other, bus lanes, one way streets, so much traffic you can't see the road direction signs, cameras, no parking, accidents..
I live in a quiet town, about 16000 people and in five minutes I am out in a national park..
John.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- June 29, 2013, 11:22:30 AM 
love them.....just get on one during a busy part of the day and just keep going around for like 4 or 5 laps and watch people trying to figure out what you are doing.......makes for an interesting day.......
think the first one was in 0hi0........
Posted by Troll
- June 29, 2013, 08:08:13 AMYou guys summed up what I think about them, plus one thing...There are so few of them around here, most people from the "rural" part of the state haven't seen them until they go to the "urban" areas, and then SURPRISE!
Posted by greenbarn
- June 28, 2013, 20:52:15 PMIt's always seemed like a dumb idea to me. I mean, yea, it keeps traffic from slowing down, but sometimes that's preferable to heavy traffic to just "keep moving" in a cray random never-slowing circle where no one can really tell where the other guy is going. So where did these things start, anyway?
Posted by marshalldoll
- June 28, 2013, 19:33:08 PMI too have rotaries all ove Ma. They are dangerous especially when the cars don't honor the yield. All trafic in the rotary has the right of way and the vehicles are supposed to allow those in the rotary to exit or keep going round first. Unfortunately some drivers are just impatient and go when not supposed to. Makes them SO dangerous on 2 wheels.
Dan
Posted by Washbrook
- June 28, 2013, 19:05:02 PMYes but I think I'd prefer to bash the side of a car than go head on. I recently had a woman come out of a give way sign at a T intersection and leave me no room to do anything other than collide. Luckily I slid my back tyre out (not intentional, just braked harder sooner on the rear) which allowed me to hit he side on. With the engine bar I was protected and came away unhurt (the bike is still being repaired). If I had T boned her, or worse she T boned me, I think it would have been different for me.
Nothings perfect.
BTW I always go left on roundabouts, but we drive / ride on the correct side of the road down here.
Posted by Troll
- June 28, 2013, 18:31:34 PMRemoval is what's happening in lots of OTHER states... but here we are just getting them. I wonder how long it will be before we get into sync with the rest of the world. I was coming into one from the South in Freiburg, Germany, back in '04. The damn thing had been there so long the locals had planted grape vines in the middle. As I entered, I had to stop pretty quickly. A delivery truck..one of those MB Sprinter things, had head-oned a car. Supposed to not be possible, but the truck driver went left instead of right, to cut across, instead of having to go all the way around to make a simple left turn....Our own Dept. of Trans. here in Wisconsin is saying that head on and T-bone crashes are down, across the board at these silly things, but side-swipe crashes are up 36%. I don't know about you, but an increase in side swipe crashes, especially on a motorcycle, sounds pretty ugly to me.
Posted by Washbrook
- June 28, 2013, 18:18:21 PMSmall ones work well on secondary roads but busy roads can be a pain. Ours are not as large as the NYC one you mention. They have actually started to remove them from some locations down here and gone back to lights. They do not seem to work in all locations.
Yep, depending upon which bike I'm riding I drag my boots or foot boards around these some times, 
let me repeat .
Posted by Troll
- June 28, 2013, 18:07:53 PMI know what you mean. They are building these things all over. Sprouting like mushrooms. Sometimes they will string 3 or 4 together...This one is very lightly used, so there is almost always a chance to drag pegs around it. When it first opened, the Police got called several times in the early morning hours, cause the Hmong kids with their fart can equipped Honda civics were trying to "drift" around it...I used to pass through a real one...Croton-on-Hudson traffic circle..just north of N.Y.C. on the Hudson River...about 1/2 mile across, handling upwards of 50,000 vehicles a day...These are just too small and poorly designed.
Posted by Washbrook
- June 28, 2013, 17:43:29 PMWe have roundabouts everywhere down here. I go through several everyday. Only fun when no traffic around.