What if a superhighway like the Autobahn with unlimited speed limits was introduced in the US? (I know the Autobahn isn't always unlimited, but still) How would US drivers react to people going 80-95 mph? I think it would be a disaster with bigger cars and SUVs and incompetent driving. It's bad enough with people screwing up on normal highways. But it was fun (and scary) going on the Autobahn in Germany when I visited Europe. Awesome watching the small European cars flooring it.

But what about roundabouts in the US? I don't think I ever saw one here, but I heard very few exist. What is the advantage of a roundabout over a four-way intersection with lights? Anyway, I don't think it would work well if more of them is introduced to America, it's dangerous enough with lights and stop signs on many intersections already.

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Would they work? Share your favorite European or American road features.

Have you ever driven ona highway in California? It basically has no speed limits. Well, it does, but eeryone's going way faster.

Americans, in general, aren't intelligent enough to control a car at those speeds. Hell, a lot seem to have problems driving at far lower speeds. Maybe if the licensing process actually required more than the IQ of a gorilla... too many stupid people on the road.

*This goes for Canada as well; don't want to seem like I'm hatin' on the States.

Only in L.A. The lanes are so small there and people are goin 85 bumper to bumper.

What are you talking about? People speed all over CA.

Yep. Pretty much all up and down. I don't know if it's just parts or if it's also other states, but all my experiences in California lead me to believe that.

But L.A. is one of those cities that coexists in both this plane of existence and in Hell similtaniously.

But yeah. Going 85 isn't that hard... you just keep a good distance from people in front of you and stay in your lane...

Not that I've ever gone 85 before.

Or anything.

Is there anyone who has a drivers license that HASNT gone over 85? Or even 100?

Am i just a rebel?? I thought it was normal to go however fast you think you can get away with. I drive very fast..

My truck only does 140 k.

My dad's car, however, goes somewhat faster. Not like I've ever tried to see just how fast it would go....

I remember seeing a small news article once about a new roundabout introduced in Florida. It was so unusual to the average American driver that several people took to driving the wrong way around it and caused accidents. Anyway, it had a great aerial photo and it gave us Brits a chance to feel smug :p

I lost my license once for speeding.

The abolition of speed limits could only make me happy (and possibly dead).

Up until a few years ago, highways in Montana only had speed limits for trucks.

What the **** is a roundabout? Here in Jersey, we have circles. I think we're one of the few states that still have them.

[QUOTE=Chaz Ghostle]What the **** is a roundabout? Here in Jersey, we have circles. I think we're one of the few states that still have them.[/QUOTE]



that is a roundabout, they are supposed to do away with the need for traffic lights, help traffic flow smoother and in general help people get from A to B quicker.

If people can't figure out how to drive round a roundabout they shouldn't be driving, I know a load of americans that have come to the UK and don't have any problem with them.

Yeah, that's a Circle, and anyone in Jersey knows their way... around one...

I can drive in a circle just fine, but I'm surprised someone hasn't run me over in one yet.

On Rt. 42 in NJ, people regularly go 85-90 mph. I usually just go 75 unless I'm in a real hurry; I don't need anymore speeding tickets.

DOUGHNUTS.

Basically, they're like turning into a traffic light. They're really easy to get the hang of when you think of them like that.

Yes, this is true. People typically go 85 mph, and you can't drive the 65 mph speed limit or everyone else will run you down. Also, there are so many s***ty incompetent drivers in Cali that it blows the mind.

It's a decent idea, but it takes so much space and if all you want to do is turn left or make a u-turn it's kind of a pain, I'd think. (or for you UKers, turn right)

Roundabouts are great for intersections that dont get extreme amounts of traffic. They're really easy to understand, all you have to do is give way on your right (we drive on the left, like that pic).

I second that. I used to live in California. Thats how we killed a wild pig though.

He's right. I was doing 90 while going home between Temecula and Escondido on I-15.

Montana (last checked) adopted limitless highways back in...96? I'm not sure if that still exists.

I think it is only during daylight hours, but I'm not too sure.

Damn. I need to visit Cali someday. Near the east coast, people don't go near 90 often on the highways. The police are the lookout so much it's not even funny.

I know the opinion pages back home get plenty of complaints about the single roundabout we have. It's located in a relatively low-traffic area, and it's plenty large enough for everyone to drive in. That still doesn't stop some of the stupid people in large SUVs completely failing to navigate it, and then complaining about it in the newspaper. To give them some credit though, the location was really poor for a roundabout. A four-way stop would have been sufficient. I think it was more of an experiment that the city was trying to see if people would prefer roundabouts than anything else.

Roundabouts are great. They don't take up more space than a normal intersection with traffic lights (roundabouts don't have to have two tracks) and it's much easier to do a left turn, because you don't have to wait for the stream of cars comming from the street opposite of you and it sure is helluva lot easier to do a u-turn. All you've got do is drive around it. With an intersection, you've got to watch out for cars comming from all directions. In a roundabout you just have to watch out, when you enter it.

Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn

Vor uns liegt ein weites Tal
Die Sonne scheint mit Glitzerstrahl

Die Fahrbahn ist ein graues Band
Weisse Streifen, grüner Rand

Jetzt schalten wir ja das Radio an
Aus dem Lautsprecher klingt es dann:
Wir fahr'n auf der Autobahn...

<3 FGR!

I think there's 2 roundabouts in all of Georgia and people are too dumb to know how they work here. I think they're awesome and save time running wires and wasting a few grand on stoplights. However, most of the metro area is overpopulated, so you'd have to liquidate people first, based on an abilities test of course.

And I believe if I'm going faster than the speed limit and am still in control of my vehicle, then the speed limit is obviously wrong.

Except you aren't in control of your vehicle. The faster you go the less time you have to repond to a situation. And chances are you're a pretty damn crappy driver, because most people are (especially the people who think they're supercool and the rules don't apply to them because they're meant for people who can't drive)

I think, therefore I am

I'm guessing you're one of those newfangled people who are too for indicators, too.

Small thing for the brits - The stupidest and most annoying thing I've ever seen on the roads [apart from women drivers :p] is 5 sets of traffic lights in the middle of a roundabout. Its not even a busy one.

Oh my god, I hate people that don't use indicators. So no.

Doesn't lights defeat the purpose of a roundabout?

We have a small roundabout in the shopping center where I work. It's funny how it really does tell you which people are complete idiots. I don't even remember learning about them in Driver's Ed, but the first time I came upon one it wasn't rocket science to figure out.

I've seen people go the wrong way lots of times, but the lady that pissed me was coming around the circle, and I timed myself to come in right behind her until she STOPPED in the middle of the circle to let me go! What an idiot.

.

not always, the only time I'm come across traffic lights on a roundabout is when it's a busy one coming off a motorway for example and once you get a green light you can make your way round the whole thing normally without having to stop again.

I do agree traffic light's on roundabout's seems kinda silly but at peak times you have so much traffic coming off and on at certain points that the less busy turn-off's don't get a chance.

I actually think roundabout's are safer than cross-roads with traffic light's because of the reason's mentioned by Impi.

As for the speed thing, in the UK at least the speed limit is 70mph on motorways, but on every single one I've driven on the only people doing 70mph or less are lorries and people towing something and even then they push their 60mph limit quite often.

There is kinda an un-written rule that say's the police won't stop you as long as you don't do more than 80-85mph, from the people I've talked to that's considered the "real" motorway speed limit.

Problem is when you get speed camera's on the motorway's, M25 classic example, the amount of people that get caught on the M25 is crazy.[edit] Guess I should mention for the non-uk'ers, the M25 goes round the whole of london and is the busiest motorway in the UK, it's also the motorway with the most lanes[/edit]

Personally I don't have any problem with people doing 80mph, I average around 75-85mph on the motorway and I drive a 1.9TD 3 door cilo, at those sorts of speed the car still feels stable and I believe I am in full control, however, doing 90mph+ in a car like that is pushing the limit, I've done it occassionally and the car start's to become unstable, steering become's lighter and it's not an all together pleasant experience.

The main issue on the motorways I feel is not the speed but the distance people leave between themselves and the car infront, tailgatting is probably the main cause of accidents, not the speed at which people drive, IMO. Oh and don't get me started on people who stick in the middle lane...or lane hog's...

The annoying thing about the Autobahn isn't so much that some people are going really fast, it's more that different people are going at very different speeds, and makes overtaking really hard when trying to judge traffic in your rear-view mirror.

That, and pretty much all accidents on the Autobahn are fatalities.


Also, in a roundabout, accidents are more likely to be bumper-to-bumper or hitting sort of diagonally (see that picture), rather than the sidesweep you'll get on an intersection (which is more likely to be a fatality). And if you're not sure where you're going, you can just drive round in circles all day.