Run into any bad drivers lately? I need to bitch...

[Stormieweather]

Here in Clearwater, FL we have a causeway that takes people, many of them tourists, out to Clearwater Beach (aptly named). It's the only way to get there without driving north or south a few miles to another bridge and then crawling back up/down the beach road to Clearwater Beach. It was always a nasty bottleneck just over the bridge at the intersection where the causeway met the north/south beach road and the downtown area. So city planners decided a roundabout (ala England, but in reverse) was the solution.

With a giant, view blocking, fountain in the center...

There were two lanes...an outer lane which forced an exit with lane dividers to the next road and an inner lane which allowed you to circle until you reached the road you wanted, whereupon you moved to the outer lane and automatically exited.

Sounded good in theory, but was a disaster in practicality. No one could understand the multiple lane changes required, they weren't able to merge politely, and you couldn't see what was ahead due to the lovely fountain.

So far, there have been more than 500 accidents at the roundabout, which was touted at its opening as the greatest ever built in the U.S. The site "has been very good for business," says James McKeever, manager of nearby Pinellas Auto Body & Service Inc, which had one of its own tow trucks hit there. The frequency of accidents is eight times higher at the roundabout than at the intersections it replaced. City officials say the crashes are less severe, primarily because cars are now moving more slowly.

In Clearwater, disoriented drivers smacked into each other or into the fountain at the an average of almost five a week. Tires squeal, horns honk and brakes screech as drivers try to make their way through the loop.

For a short period of time, I lived in an apartment right next to the roundabout. It was always a source of entertainment to watch the natives and tourists alike attempt to navigate around it.

I never had any problems with it, but then I have traveled in England and the Middle East, where not only are there roundabouts, but they drive on the other side of the road!

Stormie