Roundabouts: not for the timid
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Roundabouts: not for the timid
 
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Following a brief discussion last Friday on roundabouts, here's the
Google Map/Satellite image of what's known as the 'Magic Roundabout' in
Hemel Hempstead
(not Newport
Pagnell as I thought but I was right it is six sided).
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hemel+hempstead+uk&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.572881,53.876953&ie=UTF8&ll=51.746223,-0.473061&spn=0.001601,0.003288&t=k&z=18 Easy-peasy! For history and background see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A381089 Thanks Robert C ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
Re: Roundabouts: not for the timid
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The original Magic Roundabout (there's a few of them in the UK now) was in Swindon, 1972. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)
So why don't they use roundabouts over here more frequently? In the UK they prove to be much safer and have a higher throughput than traffic light controlled junctions. -- Robert
On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 9:33 AM, Robert J. Cordingley <[hidden email]> wrote:
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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It's because over there, they drive on the *other* side of the road, and as a result the centripetal force of the earth's rotation works in *favor* of the roundabout traffic, rather than against it.
You should know that, Robert... --Doug On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 10:17 AM, Robert Holmes <[hidden email]> wrote:
-- Doug Roberts [hidden email] [hidden email] 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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In reply to this post by Robert Holmes
Probably the original original 'Magic Roundabout' (expression) came
from a 60's BBC children's animation TV show:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/timeshift/magic-roundabout.shtml In this case a roundabout is a 'merry-go-round' or carousel and had some cult following perhaps lending its use to traffic configurations. But it in turn was based on a 1963 French show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Roundabout Robert C. Robert Holmes wrote: The original Magic Roundabout (there's a few of them in the UK now) was in Swindon, 1972. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon) ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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In reply to this post by Douglas Roberts-2
It's because early US experience gave priority to traffic entering the
circle (like the French may still do - Priorité â droit) instead of
giving priority to traffic in the circle (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_circles
) Note: driving on the left and priority on the right gives priority
to traffic in the circle - so perhaps it was a cultural problem that
made them 'accidentally' (pun intended) successful in the UK!
Robert C Douglas Roberts wrote: It's because over there, they drive on the *other* side of the road, and as a result the centripetal force of the earth's rotation works in *favor* of the roundabout traffic, rather than against it. ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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A fine example of circular logic, thanks!
--Doug On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 11:21 AM, Robert J. Cordingley <[hidden email]> wrote:
-- Doug Roberts [hidden email] [hidden email] 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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In reply to this post by Robert Holmes
Having lived most of my 50 years in the USA and having just completed my first year in another country (Ecuador, which does have roundabouts), I think I am beginning to understand why. Note that I'm not trying to defend what it is to be American, let alone its consequences as played out on the world stage, but just would like to give a bit of insight into our collective psyche. Nothing scientific, mind you, but I have tried to analyze why I initially didn't like roundabouts, even though I am starting to warm up to them. In the process, I think I have learned a great deal about what it is to be an American. Despite paying lipservice to eschewing the government imposing rules on us, we Americans are amazingly legalistic (no wonder we have so many lawyers per capita). So, we demand that our individual rights be honored, right down to not having to negotiate with someone else for something as simple as a spot in traffic lane. As a society, we agree to "take turns" through things like traffic lights: I am fine with yielding when it is someone else's turn, as long as it is understood that when it is *my* turn, nobody else had better get in my way. None of this touchy-feely negotion crap involved with something as simple as crossing an intersection, just give me the green light and get the hell out of my way (strident sounding language, but I think it does capture some of the emotional undercurrent of American culture). In a traffic circle (roundabout), you have to actually communicate with other drivers by looking them in the eye to see if they are going to let you change lanes. No wonder Chevy Chase got to look at the Arc de Triumphe in Paris with his family all day long from a traffic circle in "European Vacation." I think this may also shed some light on why we Americans don't much like soccer (as an American, I can't quite bring myself to refer to it as "football" :-) To those of us who don't watch soccer very much, it never is clear who is in control of the ball. Give us good old American Football, where one side has absolute possession of the ball as long as they can keep it. They have four tries to score or capture territory (very warlike game, it is), and if not, then it is unambiguously the other team's ball. ;; Gary On Jul 18, 2009, at 11:17 AM, Robert Holmes wrote:
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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In reply to this post by Robert J. Cordingley
View David Snowden's similar presentation of the Magic Roundabout along with it's "ordered alternative":
Russ #3 On Jul 18, 2009, at 10:33 AM, Robert J. Cordingley wrote:
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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In reply to this post by Gary Schiltz-4
Gary - the way you connect road regulation with some over-arching themes in US culture reminds me of an article from The Atlantic "Distracting Miss Daisy" (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/traffic) about the over-use of signage on US roads. The main argument for the plethora of signs is (i) US communities don't want to get sued because they've not told someone it might be a good idea to slow down for the hairpin bend and (ii) US drivers don't want to think too hard (but the article was written by a Brit so there might be just a touch of trans-Atlantic bias) -- Robert
On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Gary Schiltz <[hidden email]> wrote:
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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In reply to this post by Robert J. Cordingley
Perhaps I can support the theory below referenced.
It always AMAZED me that the british coastline consisted of hundreds of miles of tall cliffs without a trace of a fence or a warning sign.
But come to think of it, so does the coast of California.
Oh well.
Nick
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University ([hidden email])
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org |
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