Roundabouts: just the facts, ma'am

Leaving the country club after an afternoon of bridge (the laughter and the camaraderie more than compensated for a spate of bad cards) I breezed through Valdosta's one (I think) roundabout, only to get bogged down at interminable traffic lights. It took forever to get to Winn-Dixie.  I could have gotten there 10 minutes sooner on a bicycle.

Amelia Island roundabout

Paris roundabout

There are at least 5 or 6 roundabouts in our immediate area on Amelia Island, and I marvel at the speed and efficiency with which they route a fairly high amount of traffic. Interested, I googled "roundabouts" and Wikipedia had quite a bit of information on them. Did you know that:

1.  Roundabouts have 40% fewer vehicular collisions than signalized junctions
 2.  Roundabouts have 89% fewer injuries.
3.  Roundabouts have 90% fewer serious injuries and fatalities.
4.  A single lane roundabout can be expected to handle 20,000 to 26,000 vehicles per day.
5.  A roundabout may operate much more efficiently than a signalized junction because drivers are able to proceed when travel is clear without the delay incurred while waiting for the traffic signal to change.
6. These advantages also reduce air pollution from many idling vehicles waiting for lights to change.

Bottom line: I like 'em. A lot.
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