In a Roundabout Way, You Suck

Dearest Seattle,

See the image to the right? The strange, flowering obstacle in the middle of the street? It’s called a “roundabout.” Look it over. Get to know it. Smell it a little. You like it? Yes, we know you do. We like them too. When used properly they’re a great tool to keep traffic moving in a safe and fluent manner.

Duh, I know what a freakin roundabout is. They’re all over the place!

Yes, we know you’ve seen these before. Just about every residential zone in this city has them... Magnolia, Greenwood, Wallingford, West Seattle. But do you know how to use them? We mean, other than simply to drive around them?

Well, you can plant stuff in them.

That’s right. You can plant stuff in them. Anyone else?

Oh! You can paint them so they look like giant doughnuts with frosting and sprinkles!

Also correct. You can paint them to look like delicious treats, but we’re straying from the real message here. Let’s just get to it.

Seattle drivers, you suck at roundabouts. No matter the neighborhood, it seems every time Seattlest approaches one of these, we have to hit the brakes to avoid being t-boned from some eejit who either doesn't know how to yield and treats the circle as a cool obstacle course to be taken as fast as possible, or (and we love this one) people who just can't be bothered to actually go around the decorative obstacle when making a left turn, head-on collisions be damned.

Let us help you, shitty Seattle driver [Per WSDOT]:

As a driver approaches a roundabout, there will be a YIELD sign. The driver should slow down, watch for pedestrians and bicyclists and be prepared to stop if necessary. When the driver enters, he/she yields to circulating traffic on the left, but does not stop if the way is clear. The roundabout will have ONE WAY signs mounted in the center island. They help guide traffic and indicate that the driver must stay to the right of the center island. Upon passing the street prior to the desired exit, the driver should turn on his/her right turn signal and watch for pedestrians and bicyclists as he/she exits. Traveling around the central island completes left turns.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jack in Miscellaneous on July 12, 2006 10:04 AM

Comments [rss]

Honor Burrows

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I live in West Seattle and just today I got given the finger by some jerkoff who was taking the traffic circle at 30 mph.

People have NO idea that they have to yeild to the left to someone already in the circle.

Honor

Jack

Alright, so I should have said "traffic circle" instead of "roundabout". Perhaps "roundabout LT" would have sufficed as well.

As for the legality of the left turn manuever: I applaud all of you for your research into this. I'll admit I did little research of my own, but I'm just a shitty Seattle writer so that's to be expected.

That said, I think we're getting a bit caught up in technicalities here. Fact is, if you make a left at a baby-roundabout, you don't make the full circle when you easily could, and because of your lefty someone else (ie. me) has to punch the breaks, you are, well, a douchebag.

Ari

Can you actually plant things on them? I've always wanted to make one of the ones on my block a little garden, since I live in building and pea-patches have like a year or longer waiting list for a space.

F

Many cars and trucks are too big to go around those damned things without stopping, backing up and continuing on. A left turn is perfectly legal, and the obvious move in many situations. Perhaps we should lobby WSDOT to install some journalism circles for shitty seattle writers...

J

Here's the scoop on, ahem, traffic circles

cspot

FROM SDOT WEBSITE:

Is it legal to go left around a traffic circle?

SDOT has installed traffic circles (round raised islands) in the center of many residential intersections to reduce the number of accidents occurring at these locations. We have found that traffic circles have been very effective in slowing vehicles down. By decreasing the speeds of vehicles going through the intersection, drivers will have a better chance of avoiding collisions with cross traffic. We continue using traffic circles in an effort to make the streets of Seattle safer.

Most traffic circles take up a large portion of the intersection in order to effectively cause vehicles to slow down. This often makes it difficult for large cars and trucks to drive completely around the outside of the circle (Movement A) to make a left turn at these intersections. It is often much easier to turn on the near side (Movement B) of the circle as shown below.

Good judgment should always be used to determine when Movement B can be done safely without endangering yourself or others. We recommend that Movement A be used in intersections that are large enough to accommodate such turns. However, Movement B can be used provided that all of the normal requirements for left turns, such as yielding to pedestrians and oncoming vehicles, are followed.

Larger vehicles will sometimes have to drive over the curb around the edge of the traffic circle when turning. This has been anticipated, and the traffic circle perimeter is reinforced to accommodate trucks and large vehicles.

Seth

I don't see any Yield signs or One-Way signs at our traffic circles, so maybe it's the DOTs fault.

JPF

James is exactly right, it's a traffic circle. Plus, there are no "yield" or "one-way" signs. A roundabout is really a different animal. It's bigger, has no stop signs, and it's pretty difficult to go clockwise around it (though some still try). Also you really don't see them on little neighborhood streets.