sid nv

Received two interesting pieces of correspondence today. The first rather worrying-looking official letter turned out to be from one Donald Trump at the White House saying he is sending me some money as we wage total war on the invisible enemy. Thank you Donald.

The second piece of correspondence is a leaflet from the City titled "How to use a roundabout". This refers to a 3-way junction shortly due to be converted from traffic lights to a roundabout. Since some drivers here have difficulty operating a steering wheel, it is going to be interesting to see how they cope with negotiating a 2-lane roundabout. Swindon this is not.

tom169

Your city will definitely need all the help they can get with navigating a roundabout.

We had a relatively small one (two lanes) installed within the last year and I've seen at least 2 accidents on there. I also had a car stop on the roundabout and insist I enter (frantically waving me in) when there were no other cars around. In the end I had to just go.

Plenty of neighbors complained about it when it first arrived. I did a small amount of roundabout evangelizing and in the end folks seem to have finally realized it it far superior to the junction we had before.

vespucci

I did an advanced driving course which had statistics showing that roundabouts are far safer than stop junctions. But they've built a new road with several junctions within a short distance, and they've made them all stop junctions. I think the new shops there won't do well, as people will avoid the area because it gets tiring having to work out which car arrived first...

markonline1

It seems a stupid thing to send out, but if the drivers by you are anything like the ones by me, that leaflet won’t be anywhere near enough! I’ve had people stop in the roundabout to give way to me entering. I had a guy blow through the roundabout without even stopping just as I was approaching his entrance. I was in my work (liveried National Highway Safety Administration emblazoned all over it) vehicle. My spidey sense told me something so I was slowing down so he didn’t wipe me out thankfully. We had a new one installed on one of the busier roads in town. It’s a larger one, but still one lane thankfully (there’d be ****ing carnage if the US ever installed a multi lane roundabout anywhere like the ones you find back home). It has a raised center. You guessed it, someone blew the roundabout, hit the center and took off! The only issue I have with our ones, is the city insists on putting crosswalks at the roundabout entrances so you have to stop in the roundabout to let people cross. Lot boneheaded and dangerous!

Giantaxe

I drive a relatively new one near me. What gets me is that US drivers never. ever. signal. on a roundabout. I mean, wtf?

robin1234

I guess that (and virtually every other driving skill) was left out of the driving test requirement.

scrubbedexpat091

Some city's here in BC have small ones, and lets just say people tend not to use them correctly, and they are free for all's really, but most were not designed well from the start so the city planners are partially to blame for some, who builds a roundabout on a trucking route, but then make it too small for a semi truck to navigate easily or safely, makes no sense.

Also doesn't help that the vast majority of drivers have never been trained on them, as they are too few and far most will not encounter one during driving training or testing either.

As for signalling people tend not to do it here either, ICBC (DMV basically for US) says to only signal when exiting, but most do it when entering and don't do it when exiting.

Rete

They don't signal regardless of the road they are on. Personally, I don't care for round abouts or traffic circles as I know them. Too many stupid and careless drivers to make it a safety feature.

excpomea

We have been slowly over the past 10 years introducing them here.
Signals, forget that. They must wonder what the hell I am signalling for.
Always the same procedure, they introduce a new one and all hell ensues.
After about 6 months things settle down.
But, still have people waving me on, I ignore them.
People going the wrong direction,
Pulling onto the roundabout right into my path (That's the worst)

We recently opened a 2 lane roundabout, you take your life in your hands taking the 3rd junction.

mikelincs

Seen a few here in the UK, and well inland, where the car in front went the wrong way round, funny enough they always had non UK plates, I wonder why that happened . I've driven a lot on European roads, not just in Spain, and NEVER made that mistake.

penguinsix

We have a few in Washington DC but they've filled them with stoplights and through lanes and everyone here is too important to obey the traffic laws anyway so it can be quite amusing.

robtuck

There are three within a mile of my house. Coming from Swindon, I am exceptionally proud of my new home City and their penchant for bringing them over here. The best ones are the cross roads versions, which I presume replace 4 way stops, or lights. Those are the ones that create the most local confusion.

AlienUk

I am particularly proud to be able to definitively state that during my driving test after driving on the wrong side of the road, they passed me as 'there were no other cars coming' in the restricted, car-free area where the test was being conducted....so why on EARTH would they care about a mere turn signal?

TexanScot

The favorite tactic of the drivers near me is to just ignore the signs on approach and pick a lane - any lane - in which to enter the roundabout.

This is followed up by deciding that since they didn't want to be in that lane after all, they should just hop across the solid white line - without indicating - and bash right into the side of my car.

TexanScot

I'm absolutely convinced that the problem lies in the name.

It's called a turn signal, so people seem to think they should put it on when/as they turn the vehicle.

In the UK however we call them indicators, and they should be used first and foremost to indicate (the clue is in the name...) your intention before you carry out an action, giving other drivers and opportunity to prepare and react.

I rarely saw anyone in the UK just stop in a road at a junction, put their indicator on and THEN turn into the junction since British drivers seem to implicitly understand that the point of the indicator was to show intent before slowing on approach to the junction.