wFrom: Joe Ciokon

wtDate: September 29, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights get Installed

New Jersey 1957-59, same deal. Not much traffic back then, took it pretty much in stride. Used back roads with impunity. Then came the freeways and toll roads.

Joe

wFrom: Steve Sevits

wtDate: September 29, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights get Installed

Blessed be they who create circles, for they shall think of themselves as wheels!

wFrom: Bob Nelson

wtDate: September 28, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights Get Installed

We have them up here and even the lower 48'ers can figure them out.

Bob Nelson

wFrom: Jay Lehman

wtDate: September 28, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights Get Installed

Hampton, VA has had traffic circles or roundabouts for a very long time. They weren't new when I was stationed at TRADOC HQ, Fort Monroe, in 1973-74....took about 20 minutes to figure out.

Jay Lehman

wFrom: Steve Pennington

wtDate: September 28, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights Get Installed

Here in New Zealand traffic circles are common. I just have to remember to yield to the right? Or is it Left?

Cheers,

Steve

wFrom: Jim White

wtDate: September 27, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights Get Installed

Heck, I always called them accidents. Didn't realize that two cars running into each other was just "confusion."

wFrom: Steven Sevits

wtDate: September 27, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights Get Installed

As if driving weren’t difficult enough already. It seems the bright young brain trusts always dream up new junky to justify themselves.

In NY the latest traffic atrocity is the “roundabout” or traffic circle to do away with traffic lights. All too often the circle is too small a diameter and everyone has to wait while an 18 wheeler creeps around, making ambulances and fire trucks wait.

In Florida, accidents went up by 60% when roundabouts were introduced. NJ spent millions to install traffic circles, and now is spending more millions to take them out.

Locally one perfectly good traffic light intersection was removed and replaced with a roundabout paid for by the town (which is broke) at a cost of $2 million -- but that’s okay, the project produced lots of money for contractors, kickbacks and political contributions. On one road just off the round about is an emergency squad which regularly has to navigate this nightmare and now has to often wait for traffic to clear. It would be interesting to find out what this has done to their response time. Downstream from the roundabout it’s always been difficult to exit from the parking lot of one bank, now with the constant traffic flow it’s nearly impossible.

A friend has a photo of one stretch of road with five roundabouts in a stretch of in of not more than two miles.

On one interstate in NY there were two exits: one exit taking motorists in a westerly direction, the other exit taking motorists in an easterly direction. They were named exits 11 W and 11 E. Then some bright young member of the DOT brain trust had them renamed 11 A and 11 B. Signage cost a lot of money, it didn’t last long. The exits were again renamed 11 W and 11 E and signs changed again at the cost of more taxpayer money.

DOT traffic engineers whose decisions make trouble should be held personally responsible for the costs of their ill conceived brainstorms, then sentenced to a few years in a labor re-education camp!

wFrom: John Kafka

wtDate: September 27, 2012

Subject: Look for Confusion Once these New Traffic Lights Get Installed

Video explaining the "new turn left on yellow arrow" rules.

Traffic Circles / Traffic Confusion

September 2012

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