Eastern KY Gets Its First Roundabout

Discussion in 'The Red Room' started by Tuckerfan, May 2, 2021.

  1. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    Damn I LOVE the suicide cut! The crazy drivers where I live make a good effort, but L.A. blows them out of the water. The first time I went to L.A. I couldn't believe it. :shock:
    My stepdad used to drive an 18 wheeler to L.A. and back to Phoenix for a while. He's had several people bounce off his tires in a botched effort to make their exit. :no:
  2. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    Believe me, it's even worse from ground level than in an aerial view...
  3. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    Only once you've analyzed it from an aerial view. Until I did that, I never had a real good idea where I was going. When you're zipping around one of those circles, wondering which way to go while all the cars are coming at you and blowing their horns because you hesitate it is much worse.
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  4. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    In the US, the Rules of the Road clearly state "drive on the right side of the road". and yes, we have one way streets that are clearly marked.

    So ..., how difficult is it to keep to the right as you go through a roundabout?
  5. mburtonk

    mburtonk mburtonkulous

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    All it takes is one person to go the wrong way, and a high percentage of others will just follow that person. "This whole line of cars can't be wrong!"
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  6. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    I have driven enough in the US over the years (tens of thousands of miles, in at least 30 different states) to know that is not true. There are plenty of multi-lane roads in the US where it is perfectly appropriate not to be in the right lane.
    This is true. But what does it have to do with the price of tea in China?
    Keeping to the right is not hard (though according to the rules of the road, you are not supposed to stay in the right lane if you are going more than half-way around). What is hard is knowing where to exit, when you have five or six possibilities and they are coming at you one after the other. You don't get to have "downtown exit, 1/2 mile" signs on a roundabout.
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  7. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    "drive on the right side of the road" doesn't always mean just the lane to the farthest right.

    That while sometimes, driving on the left side is acceptable, those times are clearly marked.

    I don't know about France, but roundabouts here have a multitude of redundant signs clearly stating where a driver should get off depending on which road, which direction (north south east west), or even toward certain towns.

    They're basically idiot-proof.

    [​IMG]
  8. mburtonk

    mburtonk mburtonkulous

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    One of my fun memories is learning how to go through a two-lane roundabout on a bicycle while still learning how to ride on the left side of the road in Australia.

    Memory is a tricky thing. I spent about five months living and cycling in Australia, but I always have to mentally flip the side of the road I remember riding on.
  9. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    And what if where you want to go isn't on one of those signs?

    In the photo I posted, I often want to go to the shopping center in the upper left, but I come from the lower right. The only roundabout that has a sign for the shopping center is the one just at the entrance to its parking lot.

    It's easy for you to say it's idiot-proof, but I would defy you to go into that series of roundabouts and know which way to go if you were heading for the shopping center, or a particular shop in one part of town, or anything other than one of the main directions that is posted.
  10. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    I would probably take the red route, but I suppose some might take the purple route ...

    upload_2021-5-7_10-12-55.png
  11. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    That said, I seldom take the same route every day.
  12. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    And neither one would get you in there. (The purple one has you heading up the expressway toward Lyon, with no exit for about three miles.)

    But you wouldn't know either of those routes (or the correct one) from the signs at that first roundabout. And they don't post aerial overviews of the whole setup for you to study calmly from a desk...
  13. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    YOu just gave directions from the pic. Other than that, I've no idea what's where.

    Either way, navigating a roundabout should not be difficult. you keep to the right (in the US) and exit when necessary.

    If you find yourself heading into oncoming traffic, you're doing it wrong.
  14. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    Accent on "should", but in reality the whole trick is in knowing "when necessary" if the specific direction you want is not one of the choices they post.

    Well duh. But I have never, ever, even once, in hundreds of thousands of miles of driving in France, done that. So it's a moot point.
  15. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    :shrug: I don't know what to tell you. If you know the general direction in which you wish/need to travel, then even on the ground and the sun is down and you don't know how to navigate by stars, you should still have some idea of "this way" or "that way" in which you need to turn.

    But, then, I'm a firm believer in that not everyone should have a driver's license. If you don't know which way to go, when/where to turn, can't read signs, any number of reasons that would interfere with driving, you shouldn't be driving. I have said on multiple occasions here on wordforge that I am the poster child for public transportation.

    If you can't navigate a traffic circle, take the bus.
  16. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    Do you really think that with the access lanes twisting around the way they do in that picture, "navigating by the stars" or "the general direction you wish to travel" is going to make a big difference? (And yes I can navigate by stars, by the sun, with a compass, and by quite a few other means. I'm not only a scout leader, I'm an instructor in a training program for scout leaders.) When you have to take a road to the east in order to go south, or better yet a road to the south in order to go north, but you don't know the area, good luck with trying to navigate using cardinal directions.

    And if you have driven much in European cities, you wouldn't be quite so arrogant about saying that anyone who "doesn't know which way to go" at a traffic circle shouldn't be driving. Even in the US, have you never been driving in a town you don't know well, and hesitated about which was the right way to go when there is no sign that says "Turn right at the next corner to get to the road that you need in order to get to the Smiths' house"?
  17. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    Dude. Calm down. It's just a traffic circle. It's ok.
  18. Asyncritus

    Asyncritus Expert on everything

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    I'm about as calm as you can get. Why do you always project agitation on other people?

    I'm not the one insulting people because they don't know which is the right direction in a confusing traffic layout in a town hundreds of miles from where you live. :shrug:
  19. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    Really? laughing out loud at people who can't navigate a traffic circle now is tantamount to slapping a frenchman in the face with my gloves and challenging him to a fight?

    Yes, I laugh at people who can't navigate a traffic circle.
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  20. Bailey

    Bailey It's always Christmas Eve Super Moderator

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    My first experience driving on the right side of the road was when we hired a car in Italy for a few days, including driving into Rome.

    That was a heck of a nervewracking experience.
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  21. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    I think I can relate somewhat to what Async is saying. Not necessarily roundabout related (but very well could be concerning exiting the roundabout) but in general:
    when I lived in Germany my family & myself were not the type to stay on base - we wanted to explore. One thing I noticed about navigating in Germany was if you think you might be on the wrong road you rarely saw the name of the town or city in which you were headed.

    Imagine if you didn't know your way around Georgia too well, but knew that Atlanta was to your west and Augusta was to your east and you want to get to Augusta. You are taking backroads and county/state roads mostly let's say.
    If you do get lost pretty soon at some point along the road you are on you will see either Atlanta or Augusta referenced, and know you are at least heading the right or wrong way.
    But in Germany for example they may or may not put the name of the biggest city or town on the signs. You might be just a short distance from Nuremberg but at a fork in the road neither choice says Nuremberg! :shakefist: The sign might say Gibitzenhof in one direction and Werderau in the other direction. WTF? You've never even heard of these towns! Which road goes to Nuremberg? The signs have been saying Nuremberg for the past hour. Did you miss an exit completely? So you drive on, and no signs reference Nuremberg, Gibitzenhof or Werderau! The signs reference other towns you've never even heard of! They may not even be on your map. You could be five minutes from Nuremberg and never know it - or you could be headed away from Nuremberg.

    Bottom line I guess you are expected to know the location & position of every town and road in Germany like the back of your hand. Well if I knew that then I wouldn't need a fucking map or road signs now would I? :shakefist:
  22. Tuckerfan

    Tuckerfan BMF

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    The first time I encountered a roundabout was on a road that I was somewhat familiar with, in the middle of very fast, and very dense traffic. Had I been able to take things at a leisurely pace of my own choosing, I wouldn't have been at all concerned. I couldn't, though. I had to not only sort out what lane I was supposed to be in, where I was supposed to exit the roundabout, but I also had to worry about all the other shitheads around me. That made things a white knuckle ride for me because even if I exited the thing at the wrong spot, I was going to have to sort out, on the fly, exactly how I needed to go in the right direction, to reach my destination. Not exactly an easy thing to do when I had to worry about idiot tourists, both behind the wheel, and on foot, as well as what the GPS on my phone (which isn't accurate) was saying to me, and the various other distractions one has while driving at any given moment.
  23. Tererune

    Tererune Troll princess and Magical Girl

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    Do not ever give me an aerial map. Not that I don't use maps, but I only plot the roads because an aerial map will get me lost every fucking time. There are certain rules I can always use, and ways I keep from actually getting too lost. It just does not work on well oganized city roads.

    The worst I was ever way fucking lost was either in the south bronx or harlem. For some reason you cannot get to the bridges you can clearly see once you are on the regular streets. I can see the giant lit up bridge, and I know the roads are all square, but somehow I cannot get onto that fucking bridge where it meets the land. There is a reality that I found that somewhere between the highway the bridge is on and the roads I am on there is a round about that joins them. I actually think some people end up in harlem and the south bronx because they never figure out how to escape and their car breaks down making them stuck forever.

    Of course, I was taught the secret of how to find your way to where you need to go. Ask a topless black hooker. That is what my dad did and for some reason they know how to give instructions to old white men looking to get home.
  24. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    A topless black hooker? Sounds crazy but it just might work. Maybe that's what this guy should have done:

    Clark gets lost in the hood - YouTube
  25. NAHTMMM

    NAHTMMM Perpetually sondering

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    Because right side of the road or because Italy?
  26. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    I drove quite a bit in Italy. I had no problems, but then again I speak the language (but not as well as I can read it) so that helps immensely. I am glad I was driving my 1998 Neon because some of those streets were pretty narrow. I actually have more difficulty driving in Atlanta or Los Angeles or any other freeway infested American city. :brood:
  27. Bailey

    Bailey It's always Christmas Eve Super Moderator

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    Yes.

    Driving on the wrong side of the road is something you get used to surprisingly quickly. Hangovers didn't help, but fuck me Italian booze was so cheap there's no way we were going to not be loading up.

    The most intense part was how while trying to follow all their rules, the rest of the Italian drivers seemed to treat the speed limit as a minimum speed.
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  28. Bickendan

    Bickendan Custom Title Administrator Faceless Mook Writer

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    That was my take when I was in India. Being on the wrong side of the road? No problem.
    Their driving habits? Holy. Fucking. Shit.

    And I was only a passenger.

    ...
    I can't wait to experience it again :ramen:
  29. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    when I was younger I must say I did get a kick out of driving like an absolute madman in Korea. :banana: I can only imagine what driving/riding in India would be like.