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Originally Posted by Polar Bear
I would never claim to know it all regarding this topic (or any other for that matter...heheh) but just for what it's worth, I have a graduate degree in transportation engineering, and I worked in the field for thirty years in Pinellas County, Florida.
I would never say roundabouts are simple. They can be daunting for the inexperienced. But to say they are death-traps is a gross exaggeration. And I'm afraid you make some highly questionable statements regarding their use...
Roundabouts are frequently multi-lane, and are often far larger and more complex than the ones in TV.
In many cities, 4-way stops are being removed and replaced with roundabouts. The City of Clearwater in Pinellas County is a nearby example.
Dotted lines NEVER mean that you can change lanes without regard to vehicles traveling next to you.
Brownwood to Spanish Springs is a much farther distance than 5 miles, and however long it takes you to make the trip, it would take longer if all the roundabouts you pass through on the way were 4-way stops.
Roundabouts eliminate unnecessary stops and reduce fuel consumption. When an intersection has the traffic characteristics and geometrics that warrant consideration of a 4-way stop or a roundabout, from a technical point of view, the roundabouts increase the overall efficiency of the intersection in almost every respect.
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I have my degree in Civil Engineering, and agree with everything you've said. Roundabouts are a good thing as far as traffic calming and flow, but there is ignorance or disregard of the rules of the road in The Villages as far as their useage.
For the poster who is unfamiliar with Traffic Engineering, it is a specialty subset of Civil Engineering, and is offered at all major universities that offer Civil Engineering degrees. Graduates with Civil Engineering degrees have specializations in a particular field such as Structures, Environmental, Traffic, and so on. My specialization happened to be Geotechnical, but I worked in the Traffic Engineering field for many years. Polar Bear knows what he/she is talking about.