I second that against four-way stops. Huge loss of fuel, and additional
noise and pollutants for the neighborhoods. Better alternative imho is the
european system of right-of-way for the person coming from the right side.
Automatically slows down traffic in neighborhoods without stopping.
As happy as I am to see some roundabouts now in the u.s., many
implementations in berkeley at least are total misunderstandings of the
concept. We have proper roundabouts here (right of way when you are in it,
yield to get in) and ridiculous ones, like a)combined with a four way stop
(doesnt work because you can hardly see the others because of the tree in
the middle and there is no reason for a roundabout if you already do 4-way)
or b) with two roads with stop signs and two without (extremely dangerous
since its hard to see and it takes you much longer to clear the
intersection. also doesnt allow you to see a ped crossing on the other side,
so you get stuck on the roundabout and someone with right of way runs into
you).
florian