The Roundabout and the Penny. Two Round Things.

I have yet to see a functioning traffic light in Freetown, although traffic cops work major intersections during rush our. To the disapproval of many, I ride a motorbike through Freetown every day. But as I suspected, it is not as hard as it seems. (Photo: Road crossing downtown Freetown)

Sierra Leoneans drive their cars through intersections like they move on the dance floor – very close together, fluid and constantly moving with eyes scoping all the nearby players. By contrast most Canadians are as dangerous on the dance floor as they are on the road. The dancing is probably a gene thing, but our overdose on regulation and signage can be partly to blame for our driving habits which make our roads much more dangerous. I feel safer driving my bike in Salone than I do in Ottawa. No doubt speed is a factor. But in Freetown there are no marked lanes, few stop signs. Drivers must be cognizant of everything around them. Back home, drivers pay more attention to the plethora of signs than the people and other moving parts around them.

I’m watching Long Way Around about two guys who traveled around the world on their motorbikes (I’ve already referenced the show in a previous post). North America was the tail end of their trip. They had been accident free until they got to Calgary. Two days in Alberta and they were hit twice by Canadian drivers!!!! Interesting. (Photo: Round-about exit)

And the roundabouts. The beautifully functional traffic movers. I cannot help but smile while being shuffled into traffic by these wondrous wheels in the road. How did it escape the Canadian plan? I guess traffic lights save space. And we don’t have much space in Canada.

If I could lobby the government for 2 things, it wouldn’t be better health care or lowering taxes, it would be a) give us the roundabout, and b) stop with this childishness of adding tax on top of the merchant’s price so that “everyone can see how much tax is on each purchase”, as if tax is evil. This will stop the nonsensical psychological game of the $0.99, and more importantly rid us of the penny. And if you go that far, please dispose of the nickel and the dime too. Does anything cost less than a quarter these days? (Photo: Cyclists race Saturday morning on Wilkinson Rd.)

Really, who does this stuff? The States and its buddy Canada. If we want to fool everyone into thinking we’re not part of the States, we can do some minor remodeling with drastic results. Hello roundabout, good-bye change. That would be a fun makeover.

A roundabout is a type of road junction at which traffic enters a one-way stream around a central island. In the United States it is technically called a modern roundabout, to emphasize the distinction from the older, larger type of traffic circle.

Overall, roundabouts are statistically safer than both traffic circles and traditional intersections,^[1] with the exception that cyclists have a significantly increased crash rate at large roundabouts. Roundabouts do not cope as well with the traffic on motorways, highways, or similar fast roads.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia