A roundabout is basically the European answer to intersections and traffic lights. There are very few true intersections in Europe in general. But England takes it to a whole new level. To have more than 1 roundabout per mile would be like having stoplights every mile or less in the States - on country roads. And we only made three actual turns, the rest of the time we would usually take the "second exit" which essentially means to go straight, only you have to go around and then straight.
Of course, there are a few "roundabouts on steroids" like the one pictured above that sometimes have stoplights inside the circle - those are pretty scary. To further complicate matters, your turning signal changes as you go around the circle - it blinks right to get into it (although the car is actually edging left) and left to get out of it (at least that makes sense!). So, here are my arguments for why intersections are better than roundabouts.
Roundabouts:
a) slow you down - for instance our 17 mile journey took 45 minutes
b) get you confused because some of them have 5 or 6 exits, so if you lose count you have to go round and round and round
c) make you a bit carsick much faster than straight roads would.
Can I just say, I'm thankful everyday that I don't have to drive here.
1 comment:
Sorry, dear, but I like roundabouts better than intersections, but I don't have to stop. I miss them while I am here. But I must admit, I'm not crazy about roundabouts with lights in them. Yuck.
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