Public Comment

New: Berkeley's Marin Circle Needs Signs

By Jean-Luc Szpakowski
Monday January 28, 2013 - 10:51:00 PM

Marin Circle needs more signs, not fewer. This morning as I was doing a 180 degree turn in the circle, a white car came by from Arlington at high speed, not pausing or yielding, barely avoiding crashing into my right rear. What Arlington needs is a stop sign, like every other entrance into the circle except Marin west of circle.  

The fact that people around the world know how to drive into a traffic circle is irrelevant for drivers in America. That people are supposed to know for their license exam that drivers in a circle have the right of way says nothing about how they actually drive. From driving in the circle several times a day, it is obvious that many drivers, notably those coming down from the Arlington, ignore the yield sign at Arlington and plow onto the circle as if they have the right of way.  

Entry from the stop sign at Los Angeles is particularly dangerous as cars hurl down from the Arlington, honking at those brazen enough to enter the circle ahead of them. Maybe it's because there are so few traffic circles in America. Whatever. The facts stare you in the face if you monitor Marin Circle. The Circle would be a safer place if people from the Arlington were forced to stop.