While driving about in the frozen Northeast region of the United States, I recently encountered an inhuman nemesis. This nemesis, not being human, was a traffic circle. The common traffic circle (also known as a rotary) suffers from several issues. I will discuss four of them.
- They consume lots of space; more than the average four way stop.
- There is generally lower visibility than a four way stop or a three way stop at each end of a highway bridge. Because circles consume more space, it is common practice to place large things which obstruct vision in the middle. Old courthouses, coniferous trees, and support pillars for highway overpasses are usual suspects.
- They're not commonly discussed. If you don't live in a state that has many of them, you'll get your drivers license without knowledge of how they work.
- The traffic regulations regarding them are inconsistent and unintuitive. Who has the right of way, people entering the circle or people leaving it? Who knows? It differs from state to state! Additionally, depending on the state, drivers may (or may not) be able to change lanes once entering the circle. There may (or may not) be a yield sign. Unfortunately, a driver unfamiliar with the mechanics of the rotary traffic device may not notice the sign due to darkness or a myriad of other distractions including other vehicles, narrow lanes and destination text painted on each lane.
The concept of the circle may be fine in general, but the implementations I've seen seem to be lacking and rather hazardous for uninformed drivers.