Going round in circles: Japan considers introducing roundabouts

Wont work. Japanese are conditioned to follow instructions, not make decisions for themselves. This will slow traffic down as people will wait for a gap, bow to the car that is approaching, no gap, wait for another gap, bow to the approaching car, no gap, wait again. When will people check their cell phones if there are no red lights? Society will collapse.

Mythbusters episode about this very things just a few weeks ago, even though the drivers were mostly unfamiliar with roundabouts they proved to be significantly more efficient, and not only that, they don't require power and very little maintenance.

Coming from a country where there are many they don't phase me at all, and in the right places they can work well, though in very unbalanced feeder road situations it can mean if you aren't somewhat aggressive you can be waiting a long time.

I do feel a little like there may be something to what the first two commenters are saying though, roundabouts require quick decisive action, and driving here I don't see much of that, lots of very slow manoeuvres often without any signals and little awareness of the other cars around, sadly I suspect with a rapidly ageing population that is only going to get worse.

There must be something lost in the translation of this article - I know I've been on at least a half dozen roundabouts in Japan. I was out in Kushiro about a month ago, and there's a large one near the port leading to downtown.

Roundabouts require using your own judgement and making a quick decision. This wouldn't work in Japan.

Lol!? You should go to Sydney mate, the world's worst drivers with the poorest judgement reside there, and roundabouts work perfectly. Roundabouts wouldn't work in Tokyo proper as it's too dense, but out in the suburbs, etc. they would work a charm I think.

I've been saying this for years.

Roundabouts are an excellent solution:

They don't use electricity so they are energy saving.

They are also energy saving because vehicles waste a lot of gasoline starting and stopping.

Traffic keeps flowing.

They make vehicles slow down. Go round too fast and you'll end up off the road.

They require concentration and so people with no confidence in driving will use taxis or public transport.

They will naturally train cyclists not to ride on the wrong side of the road.

By the way, roundabouts DO NOT HAVE traffic lights. A roundabout with traffic lights isn't a roundabout. It's just a road that goes round. Traffic lights defeat the whole object.

Sounds like a lot of money necessary to dig up existing intersections and build these. Shouldn't that be spent elsewhere? Or, not spent at all? Sounds like another "we have to spend all of the money in our budget or else we won't get money next year" plan.

although drivers are required to reduce their speed, there is no need to come to a complete stop if the road is clear.

... except in Japan where the roundabouts all have stop streets in front of them.

That being said, there are WAAAAY too many traffic lights in Japan. I drive 25 kilometers to work every day, and there are more than 25 traffic lights on the way... that's more than one per kilometer. It is utterly ridiculous.

ebisenSep. 12, 2013 - 09:05AM JST Spud man exactly. Roundabouts require drivers to look also left and right while driving..Japanese(and American) drivers can't do that if their lives depended on it.

Actually you just need to look right. If there isn't another car on the roundabout on your right then it is your right of way. Then you look straight as you head left onto the roundabout.

Wont work. Japanese are conditioned to follow instructions, not make decisions for themselves...Society will collapse.

I find this kind of rubbish ridiculous. Japanese will get used to them wherever they are introduced. The roads will collapse however if too many fat foreigners like me drive over them though. As someone else pointed out there are large scale roundabouts in a number of places, but you won't see them in cramped to the extreme Tokyo.

I agree. Roundabouts require using your own judgement and making a quick decision. This wouldn't work in Japan.

Speed bumps please. Our road is narrow and fairly busy with pedestrians all day and late into the night, and idiots speed down it all the time narrowly missing people and oncoming vehicles. I can't think of any other way to stop them. I sometimes pretend that I'm about to step out into their path and this slows them down, but why should I have to?

The only place I could see this working in Japan would be on on-ramps / off-ramps (ie. connecting to other expressways).

Where I'm from in Sydney, my entire neighbourhood consists of roundabouts. Not a single traffic light in sight. Very smooth, but also what I like to call "organised chaos".

What can I say - Sydney drivers are completely bonkers :)

I think it is a good idea, and have thought so for many years. Some of the comments regarding "speedy decisions" and "driving temperament " are a bit bewildering - For a country with so many vehicles the majority of regular drivers do very well, especially compared to, just off the top of my head, Russia. YouTube is awash with hopeless driving from there.

Im from a place in the US (Norther New Jersey) that had many of them and even my homes driveway was set up that way (from the days of carriages). I like them but we often would see people with out of state plates struggling (death grip & wide-eyed, neck craning around) to get out in a few of the bigger, busier ones. Good fun, except when they almost hit you.

spudman:

" Wont work. Japanese are conditioned to follow instructions, not make decisions for themselves "

Actually, there is a roundabout in Japan already (in Akita prefecture, if I remember correctly), and it works. This was such a novelty here that they reported about it in the news. (About half a year ago, sorry don´t remember the name of the town.)

Roundabouts are a phantastically elegant solution if there is low traffic and enough space. I don´t expect to see any in central Tokyo, but out in the suburbs, sure. And the sooner the better. It is ridiculous to stop in the middle of the night for no other reason than some stupid, electricity-consuming traffic light.

My small mind always thought roundabouts exist everywhere. Malta is same hand-drive as Japan, and we have no problems with roundabouts, actually we seem to love them (considering we are surrounded by them). Hey, they can also add greenery to glum roads!! :D

There are over 2000 roundabouts in the U.S

I had to smile at that. In the Netherlands there are more than 4000 roundabouts.

The roundabout is the safest kind of crossroads which should be introduced here in Japan in thousands of places that do not have an enormous flow of traffic. Why is a roundabout so safe? That's because it consists of a number of smaller crossroads that are smaller points of conflict and easier to oversee. Traffic approaches from only 2 directions instead of 4 while the speed of traffic is low, reducing the chances of serious injuries in the case of accidents.

Japanese will learn to negotiate roundabouts just fine, like they have learned to comply with new traffic rules all the time. The most difficult one to stop at a red light. And everyone here stops at a rail- or tramway crossing, necessary or not.

Speed bumps are definitely required. MG, this is the 21st century. Slow down the idiots speeding through residential sections all the time. Spend big construction money on these projects. Provide safety instead of grandeur. Road conditions in and up to residential sections are horrible and a shame on this nation.

Recently many Canadian cities have added them, mostly to knew roads, or those being expanded, they seem to wirk nicely, and after a couple of trips through, they are easy to maneuver. What i would also like to see, as we have in Canada, is the ability to turn on a red light if there is no traffic coming! How many times have I sat through a light waiting when there was no traffic and if I was able to turn, really speed up the flow of traffic.

Not sure roundabouts are suited to the local temprament and driving style. Can you imagine all the taxi drivers trying to enter/exit just ahead of another car?

@CH3CHO.... I wish that the traffic stopped for pedestrians..

I can't believe people are able to drive through a green pedestrian light.. and frequently don't stop for zebra crossings at all.

I was shocked when I was at the licence training, green to blue, when I asked the instructor about this particular thing, he more or less said.. Meh whatever..

Roundabouts are great but I fear trucks and people in expensive cars think (incorrectly) have the rightaway.

Japanese nitizens are now talking about this Chinese roundabout.

http://zinger-hole.net/entry/1758/img/0.jpg

ebisen: Roundabouts require drivers to look also left and right while driving..Japanese(and American) drivers can't do that if their lives depended on it.

Rubbish! There are over 2000 roundabouts in the U.S. and though there was initial reluctance towards them on the part of drivers unfamiliar with them, where they have been in use, they've generally been embraced and resulted in lower rates of crashes and fatalities. Many Americans confuse roundabouts with traffic circles like those that a state such as New Jersey has in abundance but quickly realize the difference after they've driven on the two. I've driven in a number of U.S. states with roundabouts and seen no problems with them.

Converting a traditional intersection to a roundabout led, on average, to a 35% drop in crashes and a 76% drop in fatal or serious injury crashes, according to a 2007 study of 55 sites by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program of the National Academies.

zenkan: For a country with so many vehicles the majority of regular drivers do very well, especially compared to, just off the top of my head, Russia. YouTube is awash with hopeless driving from there.

A lot of that might have to do with the fact that so many Russians have dash cams in their cars thereby catching the madness that people in other countries would miss or not be able to prove.

Those who think that Japanese drivers would be unable to deal with roundabouts must then also believe that Japanese could never drive in the UK

Of course the UK is filled with Japanese obaa chan drivers.........

Luca, I've heard both "rotary" and "traffic circle" in America, but never "roundabout". I think the latter is the British standard.

I have heard 'roundabout' in Georgia, it seems to be used in some parts of the US South.

There is one in Asahikawa. It has had about 20 traffic lights added over the years and is confusing as hell. The sides of the road are littered with broken glass and tail lights.

I don't think it'd work so well.

Taiwan has roundabouts, and the usual way for a driver to negotiate them is with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding down the horn. Several times when entering them I felt a cardiac seizure coming on, until I learned to shut my eye tightly and mumble prayers under my breath.

I'd go along with the idea for Japan only if the roundabout featured speed bumps at regular intervals.

A roundabout or rohtarii (rotary) will not work, since we need to stop the traffic to let pedestrians walk through the intersection. An Overpass or underpass will work better.

In Florida....oh my, you should see the action in rondabouts in Florida.

Roundabouts are obviously less power-consuming than traffic lights, but they're only safer for drivers. Drivers, how you propose that pedestrians and cyclists cross them safely?

Drivers, how you propose that pedestrians and cyclists cross them safely?

I agree that big roundabouts are worse for cyclists.

@maxim actually they are safer when installed in the correct location.

Roundabouts are safer than both traffic circles and junctions—having 40% fewer vehicle collisions, 80% fewer injuries and 90% fewer serious injuries and fatalities (according to a study of a sampling of roundabouts in the United States, when compared with the junctions they replaced).

I thought the former was just an Americanism or an Australianism or something....

Luca, I've heard both "rotary" and "traffic circle" in America, but never "roundabout". I think the latter is the British standard.

lucabrasi: This link offers a good explanation of the difference between roundabouts and traffic circles as well as traffic calming circles.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Safety/roundabouts/BasicFacts.htm

They seem to work perfectly in France ! But the following sentence made me smile :

Considering how slowly Japanese traffic flows anyway, it's hard to know if drivers would even notice.

I think the mini- roundabouts you see in the UK, the ones you can virtually drive over if there is no other traffic, would work well here given that so many of the roads are narrow

Let's not forget that the average roundabout is larger than a simple stoplight intersection. Last I heard space is at a premium in most Japanese cities.

Roundabout is very effective in traffic control and has been in existence long long time ago....... is this roundabout for trains? that would be something extremely new, roundabout along a railway line......

What we need is more speed bumps and police enforcement...have never witnessed more law breaking drivers than here in Central Japan where the numbers of auto accidents and fatalities from auto accidents are the highest in the nation!

Spud man exactly. Roundabouts require drivers to look also left and right while driving..Japanese(and American) drivers can't do that if their lives depended on it. They work wonderfully in Europe though...no need to lose minutes at stupid traffic lights any more

I come from a country that has many roundabouts. Traffic is nowhere near as dense as Japan but it can be mayhem trying to get round one if all the traffic keeps coming steadily around without a break. Won't work in Japan very well. I see a lot of crashes. Instead of roundabouts, they should time the traffic lights better. In actual fact, there are many places that don't really need traffic lights at all. One street I use often has 4 sets of lights. When one goes green, the next one goes red and so on even though there is no traffic from the side streets.

How are they going to instruct licensed drivers with no experience of roundabouts how to approach them, in order to ensure that everyone on the roads is competent in roundabouting?

How are they going to instruct licensed drivers with no experience of roundabouts how to approach them, in order to ensure that everyone on the roads is competent in roundabouting?

Licensed drivers have already been taught to stop at red traffic lights.... oh hang on......

I think this is a great idea, way too many traffic lights here.

Roundabouts are MUCH safer than the traffic light system that shows green in one direction and red in the opposite.

Or the red traffic light with a tiny green arrow.

Power cuts are common in Okinawa after a typhoon. The traffic lights are often out, but surprisingly, I've never seen an accident at an intersection where the lights are out. Most drivers are very polite and things seem to work out just as well as when the lights are working.

Those who think that Japanese drivers would be unable to deal with roundabouts must then also believe that Japanese could never drive in the UK, which is plastered with roundabouts (some of them so small it is almost ridiculous). But in fact, they can and they do, I never heard of a problem with that.

Worth looking into but not sure if it will work. I would say try building one whenever a new road is opened and see how it goes. I would love to see them here in Okinawa. As someone said, there are WAY too many traffic lights half of which are useless and they are not synchronized. You get a green light, the next is red, then it turns green and the next is red. Useless stop and go and not fuel efficient. Roundabouts may be the way to go.

Oh speed bumps for sure. I feel like making my own sometimes. Roundabouts would be better in those situtations where there is a very small intersection which really only needs traffic to slow down, not come to complete stop and wait. Out here there are some places that have stop signs in both directions which is kind of like a roundabout without the circle in the middle. Rules for roundabout use are no more difficult than rules for other road use.

I think we should pay tribute to Frank Blackmore, the inventor of the modern roundabout, who died in 2008, but has revolutionised busy junctions.

Of course they work and are safe - they are all over Europe, which is probably the best comparator to Japan. From the mighty roundabouts of Hyde Park Corner and Arc de Triomphe, to the modest mini roundabout, they are all over the place, helping keep the traffic moving. Quite what Japan needs to study, I have no idea.

roundabouts are great, but Japanese people have all kinds of problems using them, some British people too. My Japanese friend hired a car in the UK last March and went round one roundabout 6 times! ha

presto345: I had to smile at that. In the Netherlands there are more than 4000 roundabouts.

Fair enough but when you consider the size of the States and the fact that there are millions of miles of road without stops signs or lights of any kind, coupled with the fact that roundabouts are relatively new there, 2000 or so makes sense. Drive through places like the Dakotas, Montana or Texas and you'll understand how redundant roundabouts would be throughout much of those states. The Netherlands, being smaller and generally more crowded, would naturally require more roundabouts per square mile.

Roundabouts work rather well here after some initial reluctance, have been embraced here in Nebraska in some of the denser areas as they are farm more convenient than stoplights. Not to mention safe. Japan could do far worse than to adopt them

Thanks, Thon and Ambrosia : )

Maybe they do work in Sydney (and Holland), but in little Adelaide they are okay in the suburbs on minor roads where there are very light traffic loads, but whenever they put one on a major road it is pure hell. Victoria roundabout is commonly referred to here as 'murder roundabout' and is reputed to have our highest 'score' of both accidents and deaths of any intersection. It is scary to get on, and can be scary to get off. We do have the most aggressive and rudest drivers that I have come across in driving in half-a-dozen countries, so maybe you won't have that issue, but I would warn against using them on high load roads.

Roundabouts offer the ordinary man in the street some of the most memorable life experiences........

I don't think that the Japanese are programmed to take orders, but spudman is right problem is psychological.

When I go back to the UK and use roundabouts, I find that I have swap back into a very British frame of mind to use them.

Yes the Japanese are programmed to obey stop lights, but even in the case of stop lights there is certain amount of fuzziness and leeway. Even buses go through on orange.

In a way it is Westerners that are programmed to take orders, or rather act in accordance to rules.

In the absence of explicit statements of right of way - lights - the Japanese are programmed to bow, be polite and base right action upon mutual inter-personal approval, rather than some abstract rule.

I think that roundabouts require a certain amount of interpersonal assertiveness. To use a roundabout one has to take action based upon rules thinking things like "I am in my rights so I am going to come out onto the round about (not allow you to come out onto the round about) whether you like it or not and without waiting for the other to express their agreement by nodding or bowing or whatever.

Roundabouts, like visitors, are not going to catch on.

I'm sure they'll get around to it one day

You what to know about roundabout try looking up swindon town roundabout. Swindon is the UK head of Honda and I know loads of japanese people that have came to the UK and used them. But there is one roundabout in swindon they won't go near even people in the UK miss it if they come to swindon. Simple roundabout I think could be introduced very easily but nothing like swindons magic roundabout.

As many have mentioned, under the assumption that Japanese cannot make decisions for themselves, perhaps this will be good practice for them.

America isn't known for roundabouts, yet the Virginia Department of Transportation decided to replace two signaled intersections on U.S. Rt. 15 with roundabouts - one of them was the intersection of US 15 with US 50. When I first used them, I thought it was a mistake, but after a couple of years, I have to admit they are allowing traffic to move more smoothly through the intersection. Slowing to 25MPH to merge with roundabout traffic is certainly better than sitting at a stoplight for three minutes before having to accelerate to highway speeds again.

For those saying the roundabout traffic will be too fast for Japanese drivers, I have a simple solution... make the circle smaller. You're not going to blow through the traffic circle at high speeds if those speeds will roll your vehicle over.

Roundabouts can improve a lot traffic, but the size (radius) must be proportional to the traffic. Thus I do not see it of a great help for Tokyo: high traffic and no space, except for a few big crossroads like Shibuya Station for instance.

In a nutshell: worth the try!

Round abouts only work on roads with even amount of traffic. On left hand drive roads - as soon as the road to your right becomes very busy - you are stuck having to give way to every car on that road - until someone come from their right making them give way and you get a chance.

No way would round abouts help anymore than broke traffic lights in earthquake events

Japanese driving through roundabouts? you will only see long lines at the entrances,hehe LMAO!

roundabouts are alot cheaper to maintain than traffic lights, but with all the geriatrics on the roads in Japan and the tiny streets I doubt it will help the traffic, probably make it worse. anything that is seems risky or is different the Japanese will shun.

Roundabouts are actually quite safe, for it calms the velocity of traffic and provides continuous flow simultaneously. The learning curve is a mere gentle slope too.

What's the difference between "traffic circle" and "roundabout"?

I thought the former was just an Americanism or an Australianism or something....

JUST DO IT!!!

Though to be fair I was encountered a roundabout in Tottori and approaching it with rights to enter the first thing that happened was the guy in the 'give way' side just screamed on ahead and almost took us out. I'm not sure the mediocre driving skills of the Japanese will cope with correct right-of-way rules. I mean we're talking about a country where re light s appear optional at the best of times.... Still it can't be worse than the traffic-light, gridlock madness that exists now.

@WilliB

My Japanese wife wouldn't drive in the UK for 2 years for fear of roundabouts. When she eventually started, she couldn't get to grips with the fact that the decision to stop or go was hers entirely. Now, at last, she has no problems, and actually appreciates their elegance.

The inventor of this needs to be dragged out behind a barn....

Through or around it?

@Vermillion

Roundabouts can be very small indeed. As GameOn suggests, check out the UK's thousands of "mini-roundabouts"

@Clint The Magic Roundabout in Swindon is a very enjoyable challenge :-)

Another advantage of roundabouts is that small gardens appear in the middle of major junctions. Just about all of the UKs larger roundabouts are beautifully kempt with flowers and shrubs.

We love our roundabouts so much, there's even an appreciation society! http://www.roundaboutsofbritain.com/about-us-2/

Clark W. Grueold showed that rounabouts can be conquered.

*Griswold

I hate those things. Granted in the US most are rotaries and traffic circles. Some of the issue depends on the rate of speed and generally the rate of speed is too high for it to work properly. Especially in the West, where the speed limit is most always 10 or 20 mph above what is posted. I don't see it working in Japan either not because of speed which is ridiculously slow but because of space. When you have road where taxis have to weave between electric poles on two way streets, where is there room to put in a rotary never mind a roundabout. I've seen really stupid ones put up. In front of a fire academy training center they put what probably is a mini roundabout. The problem is that it is too small for the fire trucks and they just go over the raised center. Also no one slows down. It is almost like a challenge for the college kids from down the road to take it at the highest speed possible. I think a well structure traffic light systems as in NYC works much better. Were if you go at the speed limit, you can time your trip not to stop a one traffic light from downtown to uptown or some 30 miles. But most cites can't time two lights to work in sync.

As the first poster mentioned, this won't work in Japan. Japanese drivers need traffic signals or someone waving with a flag.

Welcome to the 20th... I mean the 21st century, Japan.

For readers who might not have seen them, a roundabout is a kind of circular intersection where traffic flows continuously around a center island.

Seriously?

I never even noticed n all the 10+ years I was in Japan that there aren't any roundabouts! Is that true?

They will need to be Magic Roundabouts. Will take drivers here some time to get used to them.

NOOO NOOOO....roundabouts create problems and accidents that's all

These are a terrible idea in any country. The inventor of this needs to be dragged out behind a barn....

I have never liked roundabouts. I'd much rather deal with stoplights.