Rotaries, Traffic Circles, Roundabouts: Check this out Morans

[KilgoreTrout]

Vehicles in the rotary have the right of way. Shocking!

An unamusing explanation of the rules can be found here.

[27offsuit]

Kilgore, I deal with this d-baggery every day and I've finally had enough and now I do something about it. Every...stinking...day.

I'm a MAsshole like you, and I take the T to Boston every day.
When I get off the train every day, as I leave the lot I have to pass thru a small rotary. Every day, without fail, I approach the rotary, stop, and sit there while a constant flow of cars (from the train station)enters the rotary to my left, none of them even slowing down as they approach the rotary. It's gotten so bad that I needed to make a new routine.

My new routine consists of:

Approaching rotary
Come to complete stop
Look left at all the asshats just plowing into the rotary.
After I've stopped completely, I determine who the next car/truck is to my left that should have stopped before entering the rotary and I simply pull out in front of them.

I enjoy this and won't mind one bit if they hit me one day.
I also love how they look at me all bewildered and [censored].

Please elaborate on your general problem...

[MyNameIsSamSnead]

I'm from upstate new york where we have "traffic circles". There are signs, there are lanes, there is order. Then I moved to Boston where there are "rotaries". I cannot figure for the life of me who thought this would bea good idea. Essentially it is a lane-less, free-for-all, circle of asphalt.
How has there not been some semblance of organization put into these rotaries? It completely blows my mind.

[Los Feliz Slim]

I spent years 0-20 riding and driving back and forth between Sudbury and Falmouth on a regular basis, so I can tell you from memory that people have been befuddled by the Bourne and Sagamore rotaries since 1977 or so (which is as early as I can remember). This is part of life in Massachusetts. Now, why in Hell people in Los Angeles don't pull over for fire engines and ambulances I will never understand.

[daryn]

they're usually wide enough to be two lanes, inner lane to go around and outer lane to exit off. seems pretty easy to navigate. yield to rotary traffic when you're entering.

[DonkeyKongSr]

Aren't all these things really outdated? They make sense in lower traffic areas because they eliminate needless stops, but in high traffic areas they are just accidents waiting to happen. It's like playing Frogger trying to get your car in without getting run over.

At least this is the impression I got from living in California my whole life (these pretty much don't exist here) and driving a whole week in England over a year ago.

[Los Feliz Slim]

Why did that guy pick the rotary thread to spam his crappy book?

[Toro]

Tell em about Kelly Square Dan. Now there's a free for all!

[DonkeyKongSr]

[ QUOTE ]
Why did that guy pick the rotary thread to spam his crappy book?

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously he has research that says his target market is people who drive on rotaries often.

[daryn]

powder house square is a pretty sick free for all situation too, near davis square