The roundabout was invented in Europe

False: The traffic circle was invented by William Phelps Eno and have been used in the United States since 1905. Other than having an pretty neat last name, Eno is credited with inventing the stop sign, pedestrian crosswalk, one-way street and wrote the first manual of police traffic regulations, among other things. The modern roundabout, which is smaller and uses the “give-way” rule where entering traffic must yield to the left, was created in the United Kingdom in the 1960s according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Traffic circles and roundabouts are the same

False, technically: Each state is different, but generally in the U.S. traffic engineers recognize that traffic circles either use stop signs to control traffic or are not formally controlled, but in roundabouts entering traffic must yield to traffic from the left. Traffic circles are also larger than roundabouts. Traditional traffic circles fell out of favor in the U.S. in the 1950s as a result of a lot of accidents and traffic lock-up. In modern roundabouts drivers must slow down in order to navigate the tight corners of the circle. Traffic circles were much larger and vehicles could essentially merge and weave through at high speeds and entering vehicles had the right of way.