Avoiding left-hand turns when driving

[Lobster11]

Drive in New Jersey, and you won't have to worry about making a left (Many state roads use 'jug handles' where you turn right I order to turn left.)
Why dreaded jughandles are here to stay

Thanks for the link to this article. I was born and raised in NJ -- actually, in Neptune, Monmouth County, which is referenced in the article -- so jug handles have always seemed perfectly natural to me. I've lived in a half-dozen or so different states since moving away, and have long puzzled over why jug handles weren't used everywhere else: Granted that I'm biased, but they seem to me like a very sensible solution where there is not room for a dedicated left-turn lane on busy highways. But what really mystifies me is the hatred and vitriol they seem to engender in so many non-New Jerseyans. Even my (Pennsylvania-born) wife, who is generally a very reasonable person, has despised the entire state ever since she had her first experience driving there, for this reason alone. I just don't get it.

 

[Radio]

Thanks for the link to this article. I was born and raised in NJ -- actually, in Neptune, Monmouth County, which is referenced in the article -- so jug handles have always seemed perfectly natural to me. I've lived in a half-dozen or so different states since moving away, and have long puzzled over why jug handles weren't used everywhere else: Granted that I'm biased, but they seem to me like a very sensible solution where there is not room for a dedicated left-turn lane on busy highways. But what really mystifies me is the hatred and vitriol they seem to engender in so many non-New Jerseyans. Even my (Pennsylvania-born) wife, who is generally a very reasonable person, has despised the entire state ever since she had her first experience driving there, for this reason alone. I just don't get it.

At first I did not like them, because it takes SO LONG to reverse direction, but I grew to like them, and find that the direction reversal isn't such a big deal, unless its rush hour (All the time?) of you're on 46 or 1-9

 

[Schlyder]

Madness. .....MADNESS. LOL

 

[Obese Chess]

Portland is essentially an endless maze of one-way roads that frequently change direction and add or subtract lanes. I absolutely do not have the brainpower to calculate this stuff while driving as a result of those factors.

 

[Iridescentone]

It makes perfect sense to me. In a roundabout nobody is going very fast, and the cars are all moving in the same direction, so most accidents are minor fender-benders. In an accident at a "regular" intersection, it's likely that at least one of the cars is traveling at full speed, and that they aren't both going in the same direction, so if an accident occurs it likely will be much more serious.

I encountered a roundabout today, actually. Very rare in my locale. It was pandemonium despite the slow speed. The problem I see is that drivers from all four directions must yield right of way for the concept to work smoothly. Around here, drivers are always aggressive and they don't like to "yield" anything. Ever. I'll take a four-way traffic light over a roundabout any day. Even the boldest maniacs don't blow right through red lights.

 

[catcauphonic]

Roundabouts are different than traffic (or 'calming') circles >

Roundabouts are usually used on arterials for faster traffic, and slightly larger ... you might have to stop or yield to enter it, but vehicles inside the circle have the right of way.

Traffic (or 'calming') circles are mostly in slower residential areas ... where you are supposed to yield to any vehicle entering from the right when you're going around it. And they're AKA calming circles because sometimes there's pretty flowers or trees planted inside it.

Unfortunately, people who infrequently encounter them don't have a clue on the laws or etiquette behind them. They're actually quite efficient ... not so much at calming, tho

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Roundabouts are different than traffic (or 'calming') circles >

Roundabouts are usually used on arterials for faster traffic, and slightly larger ... you might have to stop or yield to enter it, but vehicles inside the circle have the right of way.

Traffic (or 'calming') circles are mostly in slower residential areas ... where you are supposed to yield to any vehicle entering from the right when you're going around it. And they're AKA calming circles because sometimes there's pretty flowers or trees planted inside it.

Unfortunately, people who infrequently encounter them don't have a clue on the laws or etiquette behind them. They're actually quite efficient ... not so much at calming, tho

In the UK you always have to yield to traffic on the right on roundabouts, and it works pretty well, but I've noticed that drivers in the USA (Texas is where I've almost exclusively spent my time), seem more aggressive than the UK.

However, some UK roundabouts have lights too, and some roundabouts are badly marked. Near Leeds I had to go round one three times to finally get the right lane to leave.

 

[Jloch86]

I bit my tongue once so to stay safe I pulled all my teeth out.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Traffic (or 'calming') circles are mostly in slower residential areas ... where you are supposed to yield to any vehicle entering from the right when you're going around it.

This is why neither concept works well. In the US, you yield to traffic in the circle, or LEFT.....

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Roundabouts are different than traffic (or 'calming') circles >

Roundabouts are usually used on arterials for faster traffic, and slightly larger ... you might have to stop or yield to enter it, but vehicles inside the circle have the right of way.

We don't have many of them here, but a roundabout was recently installed at a really hazardous intersection near the university where violent crashes happened frequently and often involved pedestrians. It was really well thought out and looks like this (artist's rendering, but an accurate one):

I don't know the statistics, but I do know that it feels much friendlier to traverse as both a driver and a pedestrian and I don't go out of my way to avoid it any more. Before they did this, there was a regular four way intersection. Drivers on the high side of the intersection (left on the lower pic) often felt they had the right to make quick left hand turns before the drivers coming up the hill (who were going straight) could come through. There were lots of violent collisions that sent the cars into innocent pedestrians on the sidewalks.

Based on my experience with this intersection, I can say that i wouldn't mind having something like this installed at other dangerous intersections in the city.

 

[Lobster11]

Even the boldest maniacs don't blow right through red lights.

Oh, but they do. An awful lot of people seem to interpret a yellow light to mean "speed up," and assume that there's a substantial grace period after it turns red.

 

[catcauphonic]

Oh, but they do. An awful lot of people seem to interpret a yellow light to mean "speed up," and assume that there's a substantial grace period after it turns red.

Yellow certainly doesn't mean a driver should automatically slam on their brakes, either. Many lights have a second or two where they're both red for the very reason you described. Do what is safe, and keeps traffic flowing the best.

 

[catcauphonic]

This is why neither concept works well. In the US, you yield to traffic in the circle, or LEFT.....

I am in the US. 'Roundabout' is what you're describing, not a 'traffic circle.'

 

[Iridescentone]

Oh, but they do. An awful lot of people seem to interpret a yellow light to mean "speed up," and assume that there's a substantial grace period after it turns red.

Huge difference between yellow and red lights. Everyone expects that some drivers will push the envelope at yellow lights, and when it happens no one is in danger of collision, as cross traffic is still stopped waiting for their light to turn green. When a nut job blows through an actual red light it's insanely dangerous as cross traffic is already underway. Russian Roulette, at best.

 

[bluesblaster]

Don't assume anything from your fellow motorists, watch them like a hawk. half are morons and the other half aren't aware of you because they're preoccupied with something other than driving there car at that moment

 

[guy n. cognito]

I am in the US. 'Roundabout' is what you're describing, not a 'traffic circle.'

You yield left no matter what you call it.

 

[catcauphonic]

You yield left no matter what you call it.

You can argue that with your insurance guy after you tag somebody to the right in a traffic circle

 

[GIBrat51]

I learned to drive in England, and drove/rode a bike there for years. I'm very familiar with roundabouts/traffic circles. They are becoming more.. popular, for want of a better term.. here; even in Vegas. The problem with them here in America, IMO, is that 99% of the drivers here are absolutely clueless when it comes to driving around one. Well, maybe we'll learn.. eventually. The problem with them in England was... foreigners. In the UK, you yield to traffic in the roundabout. In Europe (AKA The Continent) you yield to traffic entering the roundabout. At least, you were supposed to, when I lived there; I spent a lot of time in Germany, Spain, Greece, etc., too. That difference made for some exciting accidents; and the shouting matches were fun to watch, too...

 

[catcauphonic]

You yield left no matter what you call it.

This article is pretty specific to Seattle, but it shows that yield to the left is not always a thing >

Getting There: Who has the right of way at traffic circles?

"The first to arrive at an uncontrolled intersection has the right-of-way, or when two vehicles arrive at an uncontrolled intersection at about the same time, the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right," Widstrand says. "This is true at all intersections with no stop signs or yield signs, regardless of whether or not there is a traffic circle, and regardless of the size of the intersecting streets."

 

[HaphAsSard]

In the UK, you yield to traffic in the roundabout. In Europe (AKA The Continent) you yield to traffic entering the roundabout. At least, you were supposed to, when I lived there

According to wiki, France adopted the Brit way in 1983, and now it's a EU thing as well. So nay, here too enterers yield to the existing carousel. Well, not that a lot of drivers know or care anyway...

Here what @catcauphonic was talking about - traffic circles vs. roundabouts - is explained [article kinda sucks though, reader beware]. Apparently not every state makes the distinction:
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