Anyone ever enter a around about at around 40

[manning]

I did the other day. Round abouts are very far and few between here. We where traveling at night in the country and a sub division with very few homes. The road is posted 40 mph.

The round about is poorly marked. No reflectors in the center nor arrows as to which way to go. Prior to it is a small warning sign that I missed.

I encountered a turn around in Indiana and that one is so well marked you have to be blind to miss it.

The only thing that I can figure that set me up for this is my old towncar has automatic headlight dimming which means I would have had my brights on at the time. They would dim when a car is coming at you.

My new mountaineer (new at driving SUVs) doesn't have this feature and I was driving with my dimmed headlights. And of course when traveling with my wife we are talking.

Well, I get on top of the turn about and my wife screams. I hit the breaks and the anti skids come on. No cars were around. I turned slightly so as not to go into the center of the turn about and came to a stop on the road. If I hadn't turned we would have been in the center of the turn about which of course has a pole in it.

I couldn't figure why the sign wasn't noticed until further on I began to notice that the speed limit signs were reflecting at a shorter distance. I realized my brights were not on. When I turned them on all signs reflected like crazy and I caught them further out.

Needless to say two pairs of shorts were changed when we got home.

 

[mjkacmom]

Yep, right after I got my license. It was dark, wasn't well marked, and it was a large circle curbed, with grass in the middle, where I ended up! This was a while ago - they've since redone it, and it's very well marked.

 

[DVC-Don]

Night vision goes as you get older.

 

[clovergirl5]

Im glad you were able to stop in time. Im always so afraid of driving on roads I don't know just because you don't know where stop signs and other signs are. Especially in the dark. And the GPS doesn't show stop signs or other signs

 

[MosMom]

If you were in the Carmel area...those roundabouts really irritate me. Carmel just looooooves them and I know they do help alleviate traffic flow but they still irritate me.

 

[manning]

Night vision goes as you get older.

But I still can barely see the instrument panel. LOL

I know what you mean.

 

[maelstrom]

I hate roundabouts. They're anxiety inducing, seriously.

 

[Squirlz]

Whenever I can! Roundabouts are fun in a MINI. I can't believe how many people can't grasp the concept. I've had many people look right at me and then drive right on out into my path.

 

[maelstrom]

I can't believe how many people can't grasp the concept.

I think they're pretty confusing.

 

[manning]

A number of years ago we took my cousin out east after his mother died. He had a van with a bed in it and I was taking a nap.

All of a sudden I heard him swearing. He entered a round about in new york state and couldn't get out of it. He went around about five times

 

[Micca]

Manning something similar happened to me! I was on Test Track at the time.

 

[Silent1CB]

What's a roundabout? Is that a rotary? Never heard roundabout before. Rotaries are pretty common here in New England. Don't see what's confusing about them. Are they not common in other states?

Brights? That must be highbeams, right?

Weird how we have such different words and both live in the USA.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

So the posted speed limit was 40? Were you going 40?
In the circumstances I would say that is too fast. It is a road you are not farmiliar with, and it is dark. In that situation I would think you drive below the posted limit. Which is the optimum conditions limit after all.

 

[bgirldeb]

A number of years ago we took my cousin out east after his mother died. He had a van with a bed in it and I was taking a nap.

All of a sudden I heard him swearing. He entered a round about in new york state and couldn't get out of it. He went around about five times

Hey look kids, there's Big Ben, and there's Parliament!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

If you were in the Carmel area...those roundabouts really irritate me. Carmel just looooooves them and I know they do help alleviate traffic flow but they still irritate me.

Oh my goodness, I was thinking the exact same thing! Fishers is starting to get them too. I think I am getting pretty good at them, but I still wouldn't want to come upon one in the dark.

 

[RitaZ.]

Night vision goes as you get older.

That's exactly what I was thinking when reading the post. I'm 44 and I've noticed a difference. Driving at night with my contacts is especially fun on the highway. All lights in the distance have halos.

 

[LilyWDW]

Oh my goodness, I was thinking the exact same thing! Fishers is starting to get them too. I think I am getting pretty good at them, but I still wouldn't want to come upon one in the dark.

OT but I have family in Fishers! Small world!

Back on topic... I love roundabouts. I just wish people in the US were more used to them. They were so easy to handle in Germany, but that is because they are used more often and people get used to them. Here, no one seems to know what to do!

 

[pennymom]

Hey look kids, there's Big Ben, and there's Parliament!

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

[manning]

So the posted speed limit was 40? Were you going 40?
In the circumstances I would say that is too fast. It is a road you are not farmiliar with, and it is dark. In that situation I would think you drive below the posted limit. Which is the optimum conditions limit after all.

Yes the speed limit was/is posted as 40 and I was not speeding. The road is divided and straight with hardly any houses around. Round about which is a rotary are rare here.

What I think tripped me up was I was driving with low beams on. I only have the SUV since nov 21. With this vehicle you have to manually switch from low to high and vise versa manually. The towncar, which I have been driving for 16 years (only own one car at a time until now) is done automatically. When a car comes at you it switches to low beam automatically and then back to high beam after it passes. What I failed to realize is I was on low beam and low beam doesn't extend out very far.

I luckily learn a lesson.... remember what you are driving and check the beams....very lucky.


Brights are high beams.

 

[NotUrsula]

This story reminds me of the first time I went to my cousin M's home in the suburbs of Leeds, England. He was giving me directions to go to a nearby town to visit an uncle in a nursing home, and he kept saying to me, "Now when you get to the roundabout, go straight through ... what's the matter?" That last because I kept choking with laughter.

I had to explain to him that my driving is completely American in nature, and to an American, "go straight through the roundabout" is an oxymoron, because if you do it, you won't live to tell the tale. (Of course, he meant that I should take the 12 o'clock exit, which I told him was ALSO essentially a useless thing to say, because once I'm on the roundabout, every exit is going to be 12 o'clock at some point.)

I find that I actually deal better with roundabouts in the UK than in the States, not least because drivers there know how to navigate them, but also because it *is* strange to drive on the wrong side of the road, and I pay closer attention.