[Tagging] Another reset on roundabouts

[Anthony]

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 9:42 AM, Anthony <osm at inbox.org> wrote:
> On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 6:21 PM, Toby Murray <toby.murray at gmail.com> wrote:
>> junction=roundabout should not care about right-of-way. Trying to
>> enforce this in the map is going to be impossible anyway because it is
>> such a technicality. And I'm not sure what value is added by inventing
>> another tag for edge cases that differ only in handling of
>> right-of-way.
>
> But what is a case where the only difference is in right-of-way?
>
> I don't see right-of-way as a rule so much as a guideline.  If you are
> going to call any roadway which is kind of circular in shape a
> roundabout, no matter how large, and no matter how complicated the
> intersections, then where do you draw the line?  Is the beltway around
> Washington DC a roundabout?

The key word there, I think, is *intersections*.  A roundabout should
be an intersection, not a bunch of separate intersections.  If you're
going to expand it to the point where you have traffic lights or stop
signs for people who are already in the "roundabout", it's no longer a
single intersection.