Look at this FINE piece of craftsmanship!

[Big and Bashful]

I thought that roundabouts were completely alien to the US motorist. We use them here as a way of introducing fairness to junctions and in particular crossroads because everyone knows the rule- give way to traffic already on the roundabout or traffic from the right. And MS what a quaint phrase - traffic circles.

We have them occasionally here, but we drive around them in the right direction. And some are being added, but crossroads here in small towns often have convenience stores or fast food, so converting them can be costly. I drove around so many in Spain that they began to lose their appeal, especially in swift traffic when trying to figure out the signage.

Okay, question for the traffic circle experts.... look at this video:

https://youtu.be/seaIQYKORGc

Now I'll go on ahead and say that I've probably traveled maybe 10 traffic circles in my life, so I'm FAAAR for an expert on them, yet I too have always figured the basic rule is to yield to traffic already in the circle.

So explain the video... why are so many cars plowing right into the circle, and vehicles already in the circle are stopped?

And MS what a quaint phrase - traffic circles.

Funny how terminology changes between two countries that share the same basic "language" isn't it? On this side of the Atlantic the only people who call them "roundabouts" are the same people who insist on spelling color with a "u". (colour) "motorist" isn't a phrase I hear a lot. I've always heard them simply referred to as "drivers".

It is France, they have a differednt approach, (well they would!) For some reason, in France when on the roundabout you give way to people entering the roundabout. I don't know why, but that is the French way.

[Big and Bashful]

Aha, I missed a response there, I think the previous (to mine) response is correct, in France you always give way to traffic coming from the right.

Now then, how about this one in Swindon:

http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=115&ss=289

I haven't been to this little treasure, it looks like a complete nightmare! the worst I have driven through was the double mini-roundabout, there are a few of these dotted about in Britain.

Found a youtube clip and still don't understand it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15rhxBBpSBQ

[Sinned]

It's fine. The central roundabout is large enough that you could in theory go round it clockwise or anti-clockwise. Each mini-roundabout in itself is conventional but as you proceed from one to another you are naturally drifting anti-clockwise. I think as I understand it it seems logical to me.

For a thread that started off about typewriters we sure have gone a long way.

[pelmut]

... For some reason, in France when on the roundabout you give way to people entering the roundabout. I don't know why, but that is the French way.

I understand Napoleon decreed that the rule of the road should be to give way to traffic approaching from the right. In the days of horse-drawn vehicles this was just an arbitrary decision with no reason to prefer one direction over another. With modern traffic, it leads to ludicrous situations where a farmer in a 2CV bouncing along a farm track at 20 kph is entitled to pull out in front of a juggernaut doing 70 kph on a major road - or cars from a side road are entitled to push in front of those already on a roundabout. Nobody was prepared to over-rule Napoleon, so the law still stands.

The French have, however, come up with a solution which sorts out the problem without requiring a change in the law: nearly every junction and roundabout has "passage protégé" signs, indicating that the rule is reversed just for that particular junction - so honour is satisfied, Napoleon remains uncontested and any French motorists who choose to drive sensibly are permitted to do so.

[moonshadow]

The French have, however, come up with a solution which sorts out the problem without requiring a change in the law: nearly every junction and roundabout has "passage protégé" signs, indicating that the rule is reversed just for that particular junction - so honour is satisfied, Napoleon remains uncontested and any French motorists who choose to drive sensibly are permitted to do so.

I can't say that I know much about French culture.... but it seems to me, that it would have been easier to concede that Napoleon might have missed the mark when it comes to modern traffic law. But, not my circus, not my monkey.

Still in can't imagine screetching to a halt every time I come upon someone trying to turn on the road I'm on.

Come to think of it... there are stories that one of the biggest reasons men are stuck in trousers today is a result of, among other things the French revolution....

What's their problem over there?

Of course, if it weren't for the help of the French, we (the U.S.) would still probably be English colonies.... but then again the way things are going now.... I'm starting to think the French might have screwed us again!

[Fred in Skirts]

Of course, if it weren't for the help of the French, we (the U.S.) would still probably be English colonies.... but then again the way things are going now.... I'm starting to think the French might have screwed us again!

So true! but I am still laughing!
Fred

[Big and Bashful]

I think the phrase is "Bwa Ha Ha Ha!"

LOL.


(Sorry, I hate LOL but it seemed appropriate!)

TWR (Tittering while recumbent)

[dillon]

Let's not forget the greatest good France did for us...the Louisiana Purchase. It made this country the place it is.

Of course, I'm sure a good many Native American tribes would not see it in a positive light, but whether history judges it good or evil, it was undeniably a monumental moment in US history.

[moonshadow]

Let's not forget the greatest good France did for us...the Louisiana Purchase.
It made this country the place it is.

I know... I'm just carrying on... I'd never be seriously critical of France,
the stomping ground of the great Captain Jean-Luc Picard!

Too bad Gene Roddenberry is no longer with us, I'd write him in for president!
I mean, the man tried to put men in dresses in the first few seasons of TNG...
what's not to love about that?