Roundabout Run Around
Just try to avoid them!
July 3, 2008
Special Report by Correspondent Alex Prasad

What are these large, mysterious circles appearing in Michigan at a prodigious rate? Nobody quite understands them. I asked a West Bloomfield Police Officer, he doesn’t have the time to understand them. Local prosecutors have contemplated these strange circles and tell me that they can’t quite figure them out.

Unfortunately, these circles are not the type formed by aliens in corn fields, but in fact appear in our roadways. We can’t blame little green men, but we can blame the Road Commission for Oakland County, apparently under alien, European influence.

So what are these mysterious circles? I’ve been told they’re called roundabouts. I’m not sure that's an actually a word, but I am a sure they exist, now that I’m out just about $200 because of one.

It all started early on a March morning, at the end of the month of course, when I was headed back to Ann Arbor after a physical therapy appointment in West Bloomfield. I approached a type of intersection I’ve never seen before, complete with signage that looked like a kindergarten coloring project…gone awry.

As I approached this intersection at Drake and Maple Roads, I saw that (thank goodness!) there were police officers to patrol this new and strange intersection, and perhaps teach motorists how to go through a four-laned roundabout. If only that were true… In fact, it was a trap that had been set up by the WBPD at the end of the last several months.

In a state of utter confusion - the signs offered no advice and the pressure of knowing a mistake would end up in being pulled over - I proceeded slowly into the traffic circle, avoided hitting any vehicles and proceeded west on Maple. A success! But as soon as I passed a myriad of police cars in a nearby bank I joined 5 of my fellow very confused drivers on the side of the road, at the request of a West Bloomfield Police officer.

He quickly wrote me a ticket, told me to have a nice day, and started to walk away. But I was curious…what exactly did I do wrong? I certainly didn’t want to repeat my mistake, and was looking for answers. But the officer’s response was simply, “I gotta go…I’m busy,” which I could clearly see from the people pulled over at the side of the road.

So I scheduled a date with the prosecutor to discuss the matter. When the date arrived and I explained the situation, the friendly prosecutor whipped out a map of the roundabout and asked me to show him where I was. Then he cut me off…”Oh what the heck, I don’t even understand these things anyway. I just try to avoid them, but here, keep the map as a souvenir,” he told me.

As part of my plea, I got to pay $135 to the court, and attend a driver “reeducation” class on a Saturday morning that cost me $60. And at the class, we discussed roundabouts for less than 8 seconds.

So at the end of this three day, $200 punishment for an honest mistake, I’d love to pass on a moral to those that read this article. My advice, is to take the advice of prosecutor next time you approach a strange crop circle-like object in your path, especially in West Bloomfield - just try to avoid them!
 

Alex Prasad is a student at the
University of Michigan, and a
graduate of Novi High School.
He was the Novi.org school and
sports reporter while at NHS.
His parents are both doctors,
and reside in Novi.