[thechat] No Roundabouts In Japan?

[Erika Meyer]

>roundabout == traffic circle?

A roundabout is like a round intersection with no stop sign... you go 
around and veer off.  They IMO are way way better than 4 way stops 
(especially when driving stick).  But Americans tend to react to them 
much as we react to the metric system... "oooh! it makes too much 
sense!  I am not used to it!  I can't deal with it!"

Roundabouts have fewer accidents than 4-way stops, and when there are 
accidents they are generally less severe (not like when someone 
drives 50 mph straightaway thru a red light).

On the rare occasion an American city builds a roundabout, it usually 
comes with a big educational campaign on how to use it.  And everyone 
gets worried and confused.

traffic circles can be a lot of things... I don't think they are 
quite the same but don't care enough to do a google search.

E

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