• SoGrumpy@lemmy.mlEnglish
    362·
    7 days ago

    In about 1968, my dad drove round the roundabout in front of Buckingham Palace so us kids could get a better gander at the palace.

    We got pulled over by a Bobby on the third circuit, and I kid you not, his first question was ‘What’s going on here, then?’ We were told if we wanted a better look, we would have to park the car and walk - like everyone else. The answer to the question is 3.

    • A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      Wow, y’all have had roundabouts since the 60’s? I didn’t see any in the US until like 2010.

      And here I thought they were modern inventions

      • SoGrumpy@lemmy.mlEnglish
        3·
        6 days ago

        Funnily enough, the concept of a circular traffic junction - in a form similar to a roundabout today - was first introduced in Washington DC in the 1790s, including the Dupont Circle.

        So literally speaking, you septics invented the roundabout traffic circle.

  • EatATaco@lemm.eeEnglish
    19·
    6 days ago

    My friend came to visit me in Boston. He’s a bit skittish and dramatic. He was driving and came upon a rotary. He kept repeating “what is this?” before we entered onto it. I was explaining to him that he literally just had to get out at the first exit so he didn’t even really need to get onto it, just turn right, but he just saw an opening and pulled in.

    Immediately he went to the center and just kept circling around it screaming. I was trying to calm him down, but I was laughing too hard. We had to have gone around 5 times before he got his shit together and just exited his first chance. I drove around the long way so he didn’t have to go in again. But the thought of getting pulled over did cross my mind.

  • calcopiritus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    6 days ago

    In Spain the answer is 3. It was a question in the driving test. Idk if it’s a europe-wide rule though.

    • efstajas@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      7 days ago

      I doubt it’d take long before they try to stop you on different grounds like impeding traffic or public nuisance or whatever

      • shneancy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        9·
        7 days ago

        then don’t go spinning in a city, pick a village or a small town and go wild, it’ll take them a while to notice and a longer while yet to bother stopping you, and chances are (with village police) they’d first sit down and watch for an hour or so. Adding it all up I’d say you’re looking at at least 8h of spinning. In the end you’ll just be told to stop since it’s 100% legal or you could pioneer a new law in Poland! exciting

      • grrgyle@slrpnk.netEnglish
        7·
        7 days ago

        If it’s a busy one, would anyone even notice? Most people just get in and get out without even making a full circle. I think you’d be virtually anonymous.

        Unless someone else was riding the same roundabout for fun. Then you could invent little games to play with them

      • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 days ago

        Said different grounds would most likely be a willful twisting of the “anti cruising” laws and ordinances in effect in many states and cities in the US.

    • Obi@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      Well if you’re drifting like that you’d get dinged for reckless driving first anyway.

  • whotookkarl@lemmy.worldEnglish
    62·
    7 days ago

    Bullshit cruising or loitering ordinances that should have never been passed would probably be the excuse cops use in many areas

  • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    1025·
    7 days ago

    You could probably go 5 or 6 times before a policeman would say “Come on Mr Biden, sir. The White House is this way.”

    • Eiim@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      4·
      7 days ago

      Some of those laws are no longer on the books, so I wonder about that one. Like, what does “around the town square” actually mean? There’s not a straightforward “town square” in Oxford. And while the article asks “What exactly happened to make Oxford so protective of its town square?”, you and I both know the answer is “drunk college students”. Also funny that they don’t actually show the public sidewalk, but instead the little square between Elliot and Stoddard for the sidewalk law.

      Edit: a quick search through the municipal traffic codes doesn’t reveal anything, so I’m guessing this is one of Miami’s many rumors that happened to get picked up by a less-than-thourough website. Or potentially it used to exist but no longer does. Or maybe I missed it, but I’m willing to bet that’s not the case.

      • DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        6 days ago

        I think the law was from the late 60s-mid 70s when driving muscle cars around was a popular past time for young men. My guess is it’s a problem that kinda just went away when other types of entertainment became more popular.

      • Dasus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        46·
        8 days ago

        50 nonconsecutive laps in a day isn’t even that much, tbh.

        As a cabbie, I could drive 25 fares a day, and if I go back to my station after the fare, then I’d drive one lap while driving the customer home and another while going back myself.

        • atocci@lemmy.worldEnglish
          12·
          8 days ago

          That’s exactly what I was thinking, anyone who drives for their job could easily be crossing the same traffic circle dozens of times a day. That would be against the law?

          • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.worldEnglish
            27·
            8 days ago

            Spirit vs intention of law, they wouldn’t be ticketing people who do it for work, it would be for people like OP who have nothing better than be a “menace”.

            I’ve thought about getting a few dozen people and just going in a loop around a couple of blocks screwing over the traffic circle. So yeah the laws probably because someone actually decided to do it.

            • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.worldEnglish
              181·
              8 days ago

              I think you mean spirit vs letter of the law, but yeah, any time you count on cops or courts honoring the ‘spirit of the law’ you’re probably gonna get burned.

              Of course with this law nobody is gonna get burned unless they are actually doing laps. Cops don’t have time to be counting how many times you went through a traffic circle in a day, they’ve got people and dogs to kill.

    • BigDaddySlim@lemmy.worldEnglish
      18·
      8 days ago

      So what you’re saying is you can do 49 donuts around it and it’s perfectly legal. Cops love donuts so I’m sure I’m 100% correct

    • Ken Oh@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      7 days ago

      I would love to get a source on this. I tried but couldn’t find anything. That’s hilarious if true.

  • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    85·
    8 days ago

    Realistically, however long it took for someone else to notice you were doing it and call them.

    Source: had the cops called on my friends and I multiple times for having foam sword fights in parking lots at college. Apparently people from a distance thought actual fighting was going on. Not sure if that’s a testament to our acting or their poor eye sight.