Pulaski

So roundabouts are becoming more common in the US. There are certainly an increasing number in NC, but until recently they were generally quite small and/ or just a single lane wide. One of the recent additions has two lanes around most of it, and has stayed largely accident-free, at least based on my observations as I traverse it twice a day most days. So for anyone familiar with driving in the UK, there is nothing particularly remarkable about the roundabouts that have been built, especially in recent years, in the US, until now. .... Because Newhaven, CT has built a peanut roundabout!

S Folinsky

Takes me back 50 years as a young 1L. The “mail box rule” was established by the case of Adams v Lindsell in 1818. Victoria had not been born yet. Do note that it applies to your normal bilateral contract which is formed by offer and acceptance. I’m not at all sure how it applies to cancellation of an existing contract.

Steerpike

They put in an oversized roundabout near me about 10 years ago, to replace what was a 4-way stop interchange. I thought it was a wonderful addition, though thoroughly over-engineered. I can now sail through that intersection without even slowing down most of the time, compared to minutes of stop/go waiting to get through the 4-way stop. The biggest problem by far is, people not entering the roundabout when it's clear to do so, and then ... even worse - people stopping ON the roundabout, when they see vehicles approaching it!

Well, it seems not everyone likes it, and there have been quite a few cyclist deaths. So now, they've actually cordoned off a couple of the (over-engineered) 'right turn only' lanes, which effectively let you have an almost guaranteed delay-free right turn. There are big signs up announcing 'community meetings' to discuss what changes need to be made! It's crazy.

kimilseung

A business with several branches around the Seattle area. The Fuzzy Wuzzy Rug Cleaning Company its own web page says it was named because the Englishman who came to America to found the business admired Kipling's poem.

robin1234

I looked in the blog and the history section, didn’t see the reference to Kipling’s poem. Have they taken it down since you looked, or is it hidden in there?

kimilseung

​​​​​​​it's in the "what's in a name" section on the History page.

robin1234

OK, thanks, I guess I didn’t scroll down. On the subject of oddly named businesses, we have this from my neck of the woods.

https://www.northcountrypublicradio....falls-gun-shop

So, the other recent burglary - was it shoes, or guns, that were targeted?

Jack_Russells4ever

Speaking about Roundabouts on a similar note, Have any of you every encountered a Diverging Diamond traffic intersection? What did you think of it if you have encountered one of them?

S Folinsky

Winton Road exit from I-590 coming from Rochester International Airport (ROC) in New York.

Pulaski

Yes, several have been built/ converted here in NC, and of the ones I have encountered I am distinctly underwhelmed, as IMO they do not work as described in any of the articles I have seen.

Specifically the stated intention, as I understand it, is that when traffic exiting from the interstate/ major highway, gets a green light to turn left or right into the junction, that traffic will only see green lights and can leave the area without delay. As stated, that is supposed to be the point of a DD junction, to allow the timing of the lights on the exit ramps to be varied to ensure that traffic doesn't back up onto the interstate, and the road layout should allow this, as traffic turning left never crosses the path of traffic entering from the interstate exit ramp at the far end of the bridge. Eventually traffic leaving one ramp turning left will exit the junction beyond the far end of the bridge parallel to traffic that has turned right from the opposite exit ramp.

However in most cases, on turning left into the junction I commonly still get caught at the lights at the far end of the bridge. It seems to be a problem generated by poor traffic light programming and/or flexible light timings designed, at least at some times of day, to keep traffic flowing across the bridge at the expense of delaying traffic leaving the interstate.

Jack_Russells4ever

Iused to live in Raleigh and their were several of them in the Triangle area and I was NOT a fan. I think they probably cause a number of accidents when unfamiliar drivers encounter them.

Pulaski

Never underestimate the ability of American drivers to have stupid accidents. 🙄

Shortly after I moved to NC I noticed an accident report that was a near duplicate of one I read just a few weeks earlier, but it was a different accident. I then began to see the same report repeated frequently every few weeks, year after year. Firstly, the reason the accident was reported was that there was at least one fatality, and I would assume there are around ten non-fatal but similar accidents for each reported fatal accident.

The report reads roughly as follows: "The driver ran off the right side of the road then ..." either "... hit a tree" or "... over-corrected and came back onto the road and ... " and either "... went off the other side of the road and hit a tree.", or "... drove into oncoming traffic." This pattern of reported accidents has been ongoing since I arrived in NC, and presumably for years beforehand, but is certainly continuing to this day.

I used to work with somone who had been a cop in Florida, and he said it's exactly the same there, except that "tree" is replaced with river, canal, pond, or lake, but with the same outcome - dead car occupants.

There is a tree along side the road not far from Pulaski Manor than has been hit twice in fatal accidents since I moved here, once from each direction. The tree is maybe 6-8ft back from the roar edge, and the road at that point is straight and nearly flat so there is no reason why that tree should have been involved in two accidents, and it certainly didn't cause the accidents.

FWIW a few hundred feet away from the tree, another driver slammed into a tractor-trailer ("artic") emerging from a business, killing himself and severely injuring his wife. When on that road I frequently wonder how that was possible too, as the location of the collision was visible for at least a quarter mile away, it was day time, with neither rain nor cloud, nor was the driver even facing the sun.

Giantaxe

I used that junction nearly every day for 15 years and I always used to say it was perfect for a roundabout. And then they put in this over-engineered thing that puts cyclists coming down Pleasant Hill Rd at risk. But as you say the biggest problem is that drivers don't know how to drive a flippin' roundabout! It wouldn't at all surprise me if they reverted to the crazy stop signs that you sat at for ever.

MMcD

INsanitty
OUTsanity
total madness...

South Dakota governor says her two-year-old grandchild has several guns

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...child-guns-nra

BristolUK

Astonishingly it appears to be legal too.