Seattlest: In a Roundabout Way, You Suck

Honor Burrows

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 16:41:24 -0800

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

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 16:07:03 -0800

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

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:30:42 -0800

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

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 10:51:50 -0800

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

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:36:32 -0800

Here's the scoop on, ahem, traffic circles

cspot

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:17:56 -0800

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

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:49:14 -0800

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

JPF

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:49:13 -0800

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.

James

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:03:02 -0800

Roundabout? I think that's a traffic circle. And it's legal to turn left without going around 'em.