Originally Posted by
canklecat
For US drivers, single lane roundabouts aren't horrible. Just short of horrible.
...
Two lane roundabouts are a menace for everyone. Too many US drivers don't do yield, slow, merge or common courtesy. We're lucky if they're even looking at the road.
I actually detest the single lane roundabouts. They just seem so pointless. Often little more than putting a planter in the middle of the street where once there was a stop sign.
The two lane ones seem a little more logical.
I do think the best place for a round-a-bout is whenever there is more than say 2 streets intersecting. So, you've got an extra street branching out (5 or 6 total branches).
Originally Posted by
canklecat
Another oddity I've seen in recent years, especially in Texas, is the sudden rightward swerve the moment the driver ahead taps the brakes. I see it so often I'm wondering whether this is some weird thing they're learning in drivers ed, or some sort of word-of-mouth thing concocted by the internet. But anytime I'm in traffic and there's a slowdown -- whether on the highways, two-or-three-lane boulevards, single lane residential streets with shoulders, bike lanes or curbside parking -- someone will swerve right into the shoulder/bike lane/etc., rather than simply not tailgating and braking carefully. I suspect some drivers have "learned it" the same way some kids "learned" to ride bikes against traffic, and continue that practice into adulthood: because their parents, grandparents or teachers told them so, albeit incorrectly.
I haven't thought about that much, but I have learned to think of an "escape" when emergency braking. That wouldn't apply to ordinary traffic though.
And, of course, planning one's stop so nobody is actually harmed.