A huge fan of roundabouts

I enjoy interviewing John Van Winkle, city traffic engineer, because he is passionate about his job. He enjoys making our city a better place to live.

I’m also a huge fan of roundabouts. I live on Signal Mountain and travel the roundabout at the base of the W-Road on a daily basis. The roundabout keeps traffic moving in a very efficient manor.

The newly-placed Stuart Heights traffic circle, a somewhat mini-roundabout, is on my route from work to my mom’s house. I have had close calls of being hit by cars not yielding at the intersection, so I was pleased to see the installation of the traffic circle.

My photographer and I met Mr. Van Winkle and several residents at the site of the roundabout. While we were standing inside the traffic circle, about 20 vehicles carefully drove around the new circle, except for one car — an older model BMW. The young male driver came speeding up the hill going south on Haywood Avenue going about 45 mph, approached the traffic circle, and took a deliberate turn to go around the traffic circle in the wrong direction.

He then continued driving on Haywood, going downhill on the wrong side of the road.

We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The driver, who appeared to be in his early to mid-20s, purposefully drove on the wrong side of the road. Just minutes later, a school bus bringing youngsters home from school, came up Haywood, heading south. If the bus had been there minutes earlier, there would have been a head-on collision with serious consequences.

The residents witnessing the incident said the traffic circle, despite the crazy driver, has slowed down the majority of drivers at the intersection. In fact, that was the first speeder they had seen since the traffic circle was installed last month, they said.

Meanwhile, neighbors have been alerted to watch out for the older red BMW. They’re prepared to get his license plate number to report him to authorities. Having a safe neighborhood is their priority.