Editing Roundabout (section)

=== Terminology ===
The word ''roundabout'' dates from early 20th-century use in the United Kingdom.<ref name="oxford" /> A ''roundabout'' is also a traditional English name given to amusement rides known as a [[carousel]], or a [[carousel|merry-go-round]] in other English-speaking countries.

In U.S. dictionaries the terms ''roundabout'', ''traffic circle'', ''road circle'' and ''rotary'' are synonyms.<ref name="dictionaries">[http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/roundabout American Heritage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226235818/http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/roundabout|date=26 December 2013}} ("roundabout: ''Chiefly British'' A traffic circle."), [http://dictionary.infoplease.com/roundabout Random House] ("roundabout: ''Chiefly Brit.'' See ''traffic circle''."), [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roundabout Merriam-Webster]("roundabout, noun: ''British'': rotary 2"; "rotary 2: a road junction formed around a central circle about which traffic moves in one direction only—called also ''circle'', ''traffic circle'')[http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/roundabout Macmillan] "roundabout: a circular area where three or more roads meet that you have to drive around in one direction in order to get onto another road. The American word is ''traffic circle'' or ''rotary''.", [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=68778&dict=CALD&topic=road-junctionsCambridge] ("roundabout: UK (US ''traffic circle'')), [https://archive.today/20130117081639/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/rotary Concise Oxford] (rotary: N. Amer. a traffic roundabout.)</ref> However, several experts such as [[Leif Ourston]] have stressed the need to distinguish between the characteristics of the modern roundabout and the nonconforming traffic circle:<ref name="Ourston1995">{{Cite journal |last1=Ourston |first1=Leif |last2=Bared |first2=Joe G. |date=1995 |title=Roundabouts: A Direct Way to Safer Highways |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zl5RAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA41 |journal=Public Roads |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=41–49 |access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref>

{{Columns-start}}
;Modern roundabout:
*Entering traffic yields to circulating traffic
*Entering traffic aims at the centre of the central island and is deflected slowly around it
*Upstream roadway often flares at entry, adding lanes
{{column}}
;Nonconforming traffic circle:
*Entering traffic cuts off circulating traffic
*Entering traffic aims to one side of the central island (right side for right-hand traffic) and proceeds straight ahead at speed
*Lanes are not added at entry
{{columns-end}}

The [[U.S. Department of Transportation]] adopted the term ''modern roundabout'' to distinguish those that require entering drivers to give way to others. Many old traffic circles remain in the [[Northeastern United States|northeastern US]].{{sfn|U.S. Department of Transportation|2013|loc=para 1.5}} Some modern roundabouts are elongated to encompass additional streets, but traffic always flows in a loop.

====Rotary====
In the United States, traffic engineers typically use the term ''rotary'' for large-scale circular junctions between [[Limited-access road|expressways]] or [[controlled-access highway]]s. Rotaries of this type typically feature high speeds inside the circle and on the approaches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/roundabouts/presentations/safety_aspects/short.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903014341/http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/roundabouts/presentations/safety_aspects/short.cfm|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 September 2014|title=Safety Aspects of Roundabouts&nbsp;– FHWA Safety Program|date=3 September 2014|access-date=17 October 2018}}</ref>

In the United States' [[New England]] region, however, a "[[Rotaries in Massachusetts|rotary]]" is typically used as the general term for all roundabouts, including those with modern designs. State laws in these states mandate that traffic already driving in the rotary always has the right of way. For instance, in [[Massachusetts]], "Any operator of a vehicle entering a rotary intersection shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle already in the intersection."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter89/Section8|title=General Law&nbsp;– Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 89, Section 8|website=malegislature.gov|access-date=17 October 2018}}</ref> In [[Rhode Island]] entering vehicles "Yield to vehicles in the roundabout."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dmv.ri.gov/documents/manuals/Driver_Manual_FINAL.pdf|title=Rhode Island Driver's Manual |website=Dmv.ri.gov|access-date=17 October 2018}}</ref>

====Other terms====
In the dialect of [[Dundee]] in Scotland, a roundabout is called a ''circle''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scottish words of the week: The Dundee dialect|first1=Peter|last1=Simpson|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/scottish-words-week-dundee-dialect-1559097|access-date=3 August 2020|website=The Scotsman|date=4 October 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

In the English [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]], ''island'' is in common use.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Revealed: What is the most dangerous roundabout in Birmingham?|first1=Neil|last1=Elkes|first2=Patrick|last2=Scott|url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/revealed-what-most-dangerous-roundabout-11793448|access-date=15 September 2023|website=Birmingham Live|publisher=Reach plc|date=26 August 2016|language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Channel Islands]] a third type of roundabout, known as "Filter in Turn", exists.  Here approaching drivers neither give way to traffic on the roundabout, as normal, nor have priority over it, but take it in turns to enter from each. Almost all of [[Jersey]]'s roundabouts are of this type.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gov.je:80/Travel/Motoring/LearnerNewDrivers/Cars/Pages/TheoryTests.aspx|title=Driving tests and learning to drive or ride|first=States of|last=Jersey|website=gov.je}}</ref>