On Tue, 6 Oct 2015 16:23:55 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message , Frank "frank
writes





Visitor from UK was ****ed that we did not have them. He missed a turn
and there was no round-about to help him out.

I'm not surprised. In rural Pennsylvania, at an otherwise deserted
crossroads, I was obliged to sit waiting for ages until the apparently
un-triggered traffic lights decided to get around to changing to green.

In the UK, it's not unusual to find roundabouts even on small roads.
What was originally a T-junction or a crossroads is often converted
simply by having a (say) 3' diameter white 'blob' (sometimes very
slightly domed) painted in the centre. The approach roads each have the
mini-roundabout sign, and all drivers know that, if necessary, they have
to give way to a vehicle approaching (or cutting across them) from their
right. There's never any "I got here first" debacle, and rarely any need
to install traffic lights.

We were in New Zealand in the spring and it is basically like the UK.
They have roundabouts everywhere and they work fine, until you get to
Auckland in rush hour traffic. Then you have the problem that the
traffic that gets to the circle first is the only ones that get to
play. If that is a steady stream of bumper to bumper cars, nobody else
can get in.
They seem to fix it by putting a light a block away to create a gap
but if there are a lot of people turning on from the cross street, you
still have the same problem.
Most of the people in NZ are pretty calm and courteous but Auckland
looks like it is full of New Yorkers.