21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 65The notorious
scene in National
Lampoon’s
European
Vacation when
the Griswolds
get trapped on
a roundaboutS
OMEONE in a car with tinted windows
slaloming between lanes once pranged
my bicycle’s back end on the Lambeth
Bridge southern roundabout in London.
The wheel ended up slightly squashed,
but there was no damage to life and limb.
As an impoverished student, the £200 cash
offered to sort myself out, no questions
asked, came in quite handy.
I mention this only because this very
same roundabout, with iconic views
of Big Ben and Parliament, features in
a notorious scene in the 1985 film National
Lampoon’s European Vacation. Clark
Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, is on
a family holiday in London and trying
desperately to exit it. In failed attempts
to manoeuvre his bright yellow rental
car from the inside to the outside lane, he
suffers several near misses with other traffic.
Night falls with the Griswolds still circling.Both scenes serve to transport us down a
peculiar byway of technological progress: the
vexed transatlantic history of the roundabout.
This is a story to be entered cautiously, taking
due note of already circulating traffic. And be
warned: we may end up where we started.
Roundabouts have become part of the street
furniture in many parts of the world. They are
good at what they do, too. According to the
US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
a one-way gyratory system with four feeder
roads reduces severe crashes by 78 per cent
compared with a crossroads controlled by
traffic lights, and by 82 per cent compared
with one controlled by stop signs. “There’s
two things,” says Jeff Shaw at the FHWA.
“First, they reduce speed through the
intersection. And they trade off right-angle
crashes for crashes that are more of a
merging or a diverging type.” I can vouch
for that: it’s the reason I still have ankles.They’re safer, more efficient and cut road pollution. So why do some
people hate roundabouts so much, asks Richard Webb
“ Roundabouts are
a great win-win
in terms of safety
and keeping
people moving”
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