Tournabouts Are Great!

Tournabouts Are Great! July 31, 2015

I love tournabouts. I live in Phoenix metro, Arizona, and we have a new tournabout near where I live. I first drove on tournabouts in New England while playing the Senior/Champions Tour in the 1990s. I liked them right from the start. Tournabouts replace traffic intersections. They are a circle that usually has four accesses from two roads that would crisscross.

According to today’s New York Times, tournabouts first came to the U.S. in the early 1990s. Now, there are about 5,000 of them, and they are spreading quickly.

Modern tournabouts started in France and Great Britain. But I think they may sort have existed in ancient times when roads from different directions converged in some town squares.

When tournabouts are first introduced, it seems that at first the majority of drivers oppose them. That has happened where I live. And that’s why some politicians vote against proposals for them and sometimes are successful in doing so. But I think that’s mostly because drivers are not used to them and that most of them change their viewpoint after driving on them for a while. I think once drivers get used to them, most will love them. And heh, if you don’t know where you’re going, you can just keep driving around in the circle for a while until you make up your mind!

Traffic engineers, policemen, and lots of city councilfolks like roundabouts. Their initial construction costs are a little higher than those for intersections with traffic lights or stop signs. But tournabouts have virtually no maintenance costs whereas traffic signal intersections do, and they have some ongoing expenses such as electricity, lights, etc.

Another obvious benefit of tournabouts is that they save time driving and save fuel. That, alone, should convince drivers. When you drive up to a tournabout, you just slow down to about ten miles per hour and enter it. You rarely have to stop your car. And if you do, it’s only for five or ten seconds. How’s that compared to waiting two minutes or more at a traffic light. With tournabouts, you usually keep moving without stopping.

Experts say another benefit from tournabouts is that they reduce road rage. We sure need that here in Arizona. Donald Trump was here a few days ago, giving a speech on immigration and at the same time trashing Hilary Clinton as well as his Republican opponents running against him for the Republican nomination for president. Our U.S. Senator John McCain said afterwards that Trump was “stirring up the crazies in Arizona.” Believe me, we’ve got a few.

But the best part about tournabouts is that they greatly reduce major traffic infuries and fatalities compared to intersections with stop signs or traffic signals. Tournabouts have no head-on collisions. About the only traffic accident that occurs at a tournabout is a sideswipe at ten miles per hour or a little more. That doesn’t hardly even shake anybody up. Tournabouts reduce major traffic injuries and fatalities bout 80% compared to those at intersections with traffic signals or stop signs. That’s a huge difference. Drivers should say “yes” to community decisions about roundabouts just because of that statistic.

A traffice engineer and designer of roundabouts in Santa Barbara, CA, says, “Just because people have drivers’ licenses does not make them traffic engineers.” Well said.

I think tournabouts are the future. Skeptical drivers, get used to it. Tournabouts are a no-brainer.


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