To the editor:

Have you ever noticed those huge, yellow, circular objects in your way as you are driving around town? Those are roundabouts, and they need to go!

Roundabouts are ineffective ways of slowing traffic. They cause more problems than they solve. For example, the average driver doesn’t even know the correct way to use a roundabout. Drivers cut the corners at alarming speeds or just breeze around them and continue on their way. Drivers don’t know how to politely drive through roundabouts. They force their way through, not giving the person there first a second thought, let alone the right-of-way.

People also conveniently dump things in the roundabouts. In my neighborhood alone, I have seen items ranging from the common broken beer bottle to smashed pumpkins around Halloween to even a broken television set that sat there for almost a month before anything was done about it.

People may say that roundabouts slow traffic, but there are more effective ways of achieving this goal. Most drivers know how a stop sign works and at least slow down, if not come to a complete stop. Stop signs are much more attractive than bright yellow circles in the middle of an intersection, and people don’t “decorate” stop signs with garbage.

These circular obstructions should be replaced with stop signs to effectively tackle the traffic problems in our neighborhoods.

Ashleigh A. Armstrong,

Lawrence