Give me roundabouts

In Bette Harder’s short and sweet letter on June 12 about roundabouts, I cringed at her reasoning.

I have lived and driven in Europe for 30 years. Roundabouts eliminate better than 50 percent of traffic lights and most four-way stops. They are much safer too. Some major roundabouts keep three or four lanes moving. You just follow simple rules, blend and keep going to your intended exit. Think of the billions of dollars saved from wasted time, gas and pollution from cars idling for nothing plus stop and go wear and tear. Why stop, sit and wait when you don’t need to?

If you approach a roundabout as a clock, you always enter at 6. All you need to watch for is if there’s a car, at the roundabout, right in front of you or at 9. I admit, it requires looking in front of you and to the left (and nowhere else, and deciding to yield or keep going. The sad reality is that there are so many drivers for whom a basic four-way stop is major decision. I can see why some find roundabouts way complicated.

Give me roundabouts or give me a Jetsons’ flying car.

Phil Zammit

Spokane