American, in an area getting more roundabouts. The two most heartfelt criticisms of roundabouts I've heard are:
- I have to pay attention every time I go through one. (Vs. having your mind elsewhere works fine with traffic lights? That might explain some of those T-bone crashes.)
From my PoV, roundabouts are generally a good thing. Mostly because local engineering standards for traffic lights are wretchedly low - so I can get where I'm going far faster through roundabouts.
As a European, that roundabout intersection looks fine? It might be slightly annoying to have to use all three roundabouts if you're exiting the highway northbound and want to take the southbound local road, but with the amount of exits there I can't imagine a junction would be better.
To an American it looks painfully small and slow for coming off a highway and would be overwhelmed often with cars and semi-truck traffic. One semi-truck would stop an entire circles worth of cars with its ass end swinging in and out. And highway travellers are going to be gun shy and not respond as quickly to gaps in the circle after doing 75+mph for an hour or more.
- I have to pay attention every time I go through one. (Vs. having your mind elsewhere works fine with traffic lights? That might explain some of those T-bone crashes.)
- Certain multi-roundabout intersections are "because the Road Dept. hates us" horrors to drive through. Most-often cited - https://www.google.com/maps/@42.5058488,-83.758072,18z?entry...
From my PoV, roundabouts are generally a good thing. Mostly because local engineering standards for traffic lights are wretchedly low - so I can get where I'm going far faster through roundabouts.