[groar]

Number of round-abouts multiplied in France 20 years ago. The conclusion is that people doesn't know how to handle them. Even those who got their driver license after that because they are doing how other people are doing and not how they were teached to do it.

As said, they are effective in low traffic. In high traffic (stop&go), most people in the round-abouts let pass 1 car behind them at each entry they cross but this is really suboptimal. Lights are optimal because they permit several consecutive cars to pass, making global traffic faster if you had to stop. In medium traffic (not stop&go for people inside the round-about), people doesn't let pass anybody so people are waiting a long time to enter from some entries...

In France these round-abouts multiplied because the mayors are in charge of local roads and they got intensives from government for security works proportional to their area, and area of lights are very small compare to area of a round-abouts. For that reason, speed reducers have multiplied and nowadays most are very dangerous for the car if you get it too fast, so people are breaking harder at the last tenth of second and re-accelerating at wot as soon as front wheels have left the speed reducer...

Stop thinking that French (but may apply to most European) are fighting high gas prices. Because constructors have rather efficient cars, people buying them get a right to waste gas... This will not improve as gas lost 25% since this summer (from 1.5€/l to 1.15€/l ie 5.6$/g now instead of 8.9$/g in June).

Denis.