NJ Just Made Two Traffic Circles Even Worse

Traffic circles, or "roundabouts", are actually designed to be safer than a normal intersection. If people followed the rules (HUGE "IF" RIGHT THERE), according to Wiki, roundabouts are safer because you're supposed to go through them slower, which leads to less accidents.

I actually don't mind the few traffic circles that are still left in NJ, and while I know that every driver thinks they are the best it's always the other drivers who are stupid...I still believe that all the other drivers are stupid. Navigating a circle is not difficult, but when you get people that are either too timid and come to a complete stop when they shouldn't, or the maniacs who decide that they aren't going to slow down at all and just fly around a circle, things get messy.

Those of us who have spent most of our lives in this area are familiar with the Wall Circle at Route 35 and Atlantic Avenue, and the Manasquan Circle where Routes 34, 35 and 70 all meet.. I couldn't even hazard a guess as to how many times I've driven around those circles, but the next time I do, it's going to be a totally different experience.

Citing confusion and safety, the NJ Department of Transportation reversed the yields at Manasquan last week, and at Wall today.

News12's Jim Murdoch was out in Wall, watching as drivers sat in their cars confused, while horns blared.

Drivers are creatures of habit. How many times have you made the drive to work or to home, only to get to your destination and realize you have no memory of the trip? When people have been taking these circles for years, it's only natural that people are going to keep doing what they've always done.

The crazy thing is that this seemed to happen without warning. At the very least, I hadn't heard anything about it until the change was already implemented. If you're going to do something as drastic as completely reverse the right-of-way for a traffic circle, you would think the State would alert commuters in advance, give them warning, maybe put a countdown sign on the road so people would know.