French architect Eugène Hénard introduced the first modern roundabout in Paris in 1901 to reduce collision severity by forcing cars to continuously flow in a circular panic.

A closer look

French architect Eugène Hénard introduced the first modern roundabout in Paris in 1901 to reduce collision severity by forcing cars to continuously flow in a circular panic. Unlike traditional intersections where drivers violently T-bone each other at high speeds, the roundabout gracefully ensures that accidents happen at much slower speeds while everyone lays on their horns. European city planners immediately fell in love with the concept and sprinkled them everywhere, but American drivers still treat them like impenetrable crop circles left by hostile aliens. There is nothing quite as entertaining as watching a suburban commuter experience an absolute existential crisis because they have to yield to the left while turning right, trapped forever in an endless asphalt centrifuge just trying to reach the local drive-through!