The BBC has a profile of Carmel, Ind., calling it the "roundabout capital of America" (the mayor boasts of replacing 78 sets of traffic lights with roundabouts) and suggesting that America is well on the way to embracing "the free-floating British circular." This offends a writer for the Village Voice, who says this is like tryying to force the metric system on Americans:
If you have a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other, how are you supposed to safely drive around a roundabout with your knees? That's pretty irresponsible of a municipality to force that upon its citizens.
I don't have strong feelings one way or the other, but I would like it if traffic officials were sensible about the things. Have you experienced the roundabout on Old Mill Road? I had occasion to go through it on Saturday, and it is not safe. The idea of a roundabout is that you're suposed to yield to a car already going through it or closer to it than you are. But the Old Mill roundabout is so thick with shurbs and bushes that you can't see someobody coming from the other side. The roundabout may be aesthetically pleasing for the folks who live there, but it's a road hazard that should be adjusted.
Comments
Just in case the writer wasn't joking, if you've got a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other, I'd just as soon you didn't drive anywhere.
carmel is the roundabout capitol of america and I try never to go that way for anything anymore....I hate them......
Littlejohn, you might want to ask your wife what the definition of "facetious" is. Just sayin'.
Thanks for the tip, Tim. If you re-read my comment, you may notice (with your wife's help, perhaps) that it began with "Just in case the writer wasn't joking..."
Since I'm impaired with a communications degree from the same college this paper's publisher attended, I, understandably have trouble spelling and understanding words.
I'll look to you for suggestions, since everyone knows Snider High School turns out most of the world's greatest wordsmiths.
Littlejohn, the key words are "just in case". They imply the writer (you) to be unsure, hence my observation you were unclear the British author was in fact being facetious.
How's that communications degree workin' out for ya these days?
In the meantime, I see the plan is to build a roundabout at Auburn and Union Chapel Road, currently a four way stop. I'm having difficulty understanding how, with increased traffic coming with the new Parkview North Hospital and the planned I-69-Union Chapel exit, that this is a good location for one. Perhaps they've used the Carmel mayor for a consultant.