The Back Alley Archives

and they decrease gas efficiency.

and they decrease gas efficiency.

Yep and thus increase air pollution especially in cities with densely located intersections.

Our firm is increasingly recommending roundabouts at intersections. Once folks get a little practice negotiating them they definitely reduce traffic queues and wait times. It will just take time to readjust the American way of thinking when it comes to new traffic control.

^^^Great, there are already a ton of crappy drivers on the road and now they have to re-learn how to drive...when they never really learned in the first place?

Two lane roundabouts really aren't that difficult at all. With proper signage it's really a simple exercise. Plus you won't have to blow the horn at the fool texting in front of you when the light turns green.

^^^Great, there are already a ton of crappy drivers on the road and now they have to re-learn how to drive...when they never really learned in the first place?

Don't you see? This is the beauty of giving humans more freedom. They can no longer rely on the government to "protect them" at every turn. Moral hazard is reduced or eliminated, meaning that people can more accurately judge the risks posed by any activity in which they engage. Moral hazard is one of the most damaging aspects of government authority because it so often goes unnoticed.

But the truth is that if you don't hold people's hands every step of the way through life, they WILL sooner or later learn how to properly gauge risks against potential benefits. Now, I'm not saying it will be a perfect world where nobody makes mistakes. There will always be "darwin award" winners and the like, but there's a massive group of people in the middle of the bell curve who generally sleepwalk through their lives because they've always felt entirely "protected" by authority.

That's no way to live, IMO. The transition may not be terribly fun or smooth, but it can and should be made.