Anyone ever enter a around about at around 40

[EMom]

Having been in the UK a fair amount and also having been in Australia for several months, I am used to roundabouts. But when my UK and Aussie friends visit, they are stymied by 4 way stops, especially the BIG ones, with 3 lanes of traffic on each of the 4 sides. (2 going straight and 1 turning) "How do you know whose turn it is to GO?...How do you keep track?....Don't people get angry at one another? Aren't there a lot of accidents?" I told them I guess you get used to whatever system you grow up with.

The only roundabout that threw me for a loop was in Norway. I seem to remember most roundabouts I'd driven in had been one lane of traffic...just a way to "turn" or "go straight across." In Norway, I was driving my friend's car (following her in another car) and we came across a very busy roundabout with 2 lanes of traffic in the roundabout. I was in the outer lane since I knew I was entering the roundabout to quickly make an exit. Someone from the inner lane of the roundabout tried to cut me off and it was very disorienting to be cut off while going in a circle. Why would you even BE in the inner lane of a roundabout? Is that where you go to drive until you can make up your mind which way to get out?

At any rate, he tried to cut me off just as I needed to exit and I was not about to get separated from my friend and the vehicle she was in. She's an Aussie with colorful language and I somehow channeled her. I blurted out "&%^$ off!" (It's a "P" not an "F" but I still don't think I can say it here. ) and maintained my place in that lane of traffic so I could exit. I let that dawdler circle one more time and didn't miss a beat.

 

[kaytieeldr]

With this vehicle you have to manually switch from low to high and vise versa manually

As it (and you) should be. Granted you say there was no other traffic on the road - but given that high beams should be used sparingly and not behind or approaching other vehicles, it's probably going to be a really good idea to start paying attention to traffic signs.

 

[tennvalgirl]

There is many a youtube video of people jumping roundabouts (unintentionally) like there was ramp there or something.

 

[Imzadi]

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.

Yes, I was wondering if the OP was a Brit. I noticed he used roundabouts and also called them turnabouts. We call roundabouts "traffic circles" here in NY.

I've never heard the term rotary.

I also call the headlights high beams.

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

I think I've been through that traffic circle.

They are the number one reason why I don't think I can drive in England & Ireland. It's already hard enough negotiating and getting out of a traffic circle in the U.S. The Brits drive around theirs in the other direction.

 

[Carly_Roach]

We have several here in Mid-Michigan and they're all called round-a-bouts up here. Every time a new one goes in, we see signs warning motorists of "Round-a-Bout Ahead, 15 mph".

I ADORE roundabouts! Easy flow of traffic, each entrance has a yield sign so you know if someone's already in the roudabout you have to wait until they've gone by, and you never actually have to stop unless someone is in the roundabout in front of you.

I've never had anyone cut me off in a roundabout but, then again, we ARE the land of the "Michigan Left". Maybe we're used to quirky traffic flows.

 

[Darsa]

I work smack dab between two of the blasted things... they are INSANE at the best of times. I wish that "Roundabouts and Rotaries" was a course you had to take before getting your license. Its amazing to see people just shoot right out into it as though it's part of the main road. I've seen my share of accidents and really can't BELIEVE I've never been in one!

 

[Sleepy]

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.

Around here, the roundabout, or any intersection pattern for that matter, is a test of who has the.....well, most nerve. it is a game of chicken. In your case, the person who looked at you has actually admitted you are more dominate, therefore, you can go in front of them. NEVER MAKE EYE CONTACT! As the commercials say.....Just do it! Someone will stop. Of course, I would never attempt this in America.

 

[Sleepy]

I was in the outer lane since I knew I was entering the roundabout to quickly make an exit. Someone from the inner lane of the roundabout tried to cut me off and it was very disorienting to be cut off while going in a circle. Why would you even BE in the inner lane of a roundabout? Is that where you go to drive until you can make up your mind which way to get out?

In my neck of the woods people know exactly where they are going. They just drive in the spot that gets them where they need to go the fastest. This leads to taking immediate action at the last second. There might be one car on the entire road in the right lane and if car #2 needs to exit right, it will go around car #1 driving 90mph taking up 2 of the left lanes, then going from 90mph to 30mph in a matter of seconds as they whip back across to take the exit, narrowly missing car #1. It is like slowing down and staying behind someone for 2 seconds is humiliating or there is a dying person in their car. The same will go for a roundabout. If traffic opened on the inner track and they need to exit right, they will cut people off, crossing many lanes to do so. They are very pushy and always seem to get where they intend, unless in the case of most 90 to 30 exiters on the interstate, they cut it too close and end up eating the guardrail divider of the exit and as a result, they die. I have seen the nasty mangled cars. Nobody survives a crash like that.

 

[PaulaSB12]

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.

In my town there are 3 roundabouts on the same road, one for heading to Desborough and 2 heading to the main a14 a road that has a 70 mile an hour speed limit and is a motorway in all but name. Roundabouts are easy to handle, driving in th USA with those massive roads now that is hard!!!!!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

A roundabout is fundamentally the same thing as a traffic circle or a rotary. Traffic engineers have their rules for correct usage of the word "roundabout" for example the roadway has to be shaped in a particular way.

>>> ... 2 going straight and 1 turning ...

Or is it 1 going straight and 2 turning?

IMHO most roundabout accidents happen at one of the exits when there is more than one lane. Traffic law in the U.S. encourages trying to outrun the other guy even though the philosophy of the roundabout is to slow traffic down.

"Roundabout" is also a term for "merry go round".

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

The traffic circle above has four lanes lined to go around the circle. The trolley bus wires are hung over the inside lanes and exit the circle to the left as shown.

 

[agnes!]

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.

This doesn't seem to apply to you because your halos occur when you're wearing contacts, BUT...
*Anyone* who experiences more halos around lights at night than they used to should have their vision checked. Halos from oncoming cars while driving at night was the major symptom that got me to get my eyes examined...and I discovered I had cataracts.

agnes!

 

[ICF]

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.

Me either...of course around here, we do have lots of stupid people that cant drive on normal roads, so the round abouts tend to really confuse them.

 

[Sleepy]

This doesn't seem to apply to you because your halos occur when you're wearing contacts, BUT...
*Anyone* who experiences more halos around lights at night than they used to should have their vision checked. Halos from oncoming cars while driving at night was the major symptom that got me to get my eyes examined...and I discovered I had cataracts.

agnes!

Off topic, but for me, halos at night was the result of tiny holes in my cornea as a result of a rare eye disease.

 

[JR6ooo4]

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.

WOW! Skidding into an intersection does not sound like safe driving. You should not need signs to safely control your car! If you can not see what is ahead of you with your normal lights, not hi-beams, then you are traveling to fast.

Just because the sign says it is legal to travel 40mph it does not mean it is always safe to...

Mikeeee

 

[squirrlygirl]

Another Michigander here...and they put a DOUBLE roundabout near me! And then teased me by sticking a new mall there I won't visit it-my problem is that I can't read the sign with thirteen arrows and 7 destinations on it quickly enough to figure out where I need to turn off. Maybe if I could visit during the day, walk it, memorize where each little shoot off goes, and have the time to figure that sucker out..

They also recently changed a busy intersection I go through all the time into a Michigan left, and I love to watch the confused people trying to figure out how to get where they're going

 

[carone0318]

We call them circles in NJ too, there are 2 I'm very familiar with in the Trenton area (Whitehorse circle & Brunswick Circle.) I learned to drive with the Whitehorse Circle before 295 was finished. That circle is crazy because there's lanes that cut through the middle of the circle too. Brunswick circle is always fun and life-threatening....

There's also I think they call it the Red Lion Circle on 206 southbound, it is somewhat boring and non-eventful. you can easily detect those who don't live in the area based on their abilities to drive the circles!

 

[apirateslifeforme]

We have one particularly bad roundabout here...this may be difficult to explain, so please bear with me...

There are 6 different directions from which you can enter. From the south, there are 2 roads that lead right up to it, with stop signs right at the entrance. Same with one of the roads to the north. However, the three roads from the southeast and northwest, you stop, then you drive forward for a bit before you enter the actual roundabout.

Now, with one of those roads, if you need to go straight, you actually do! There is no turning...you just go straight across and *hope* that everyone else stops to let you go. There also are no lanes - you just go where you need to go and watch for the other drivers/hope that they are watching as well. It's pretty messed up.

 

[seashoreCM]

Why would you even BE in the inner lane of a roundabout? Is that where you go to drive until you can make up your mind which way to get out?

Yes.

I can't read the sign with thirteen arrows and 7 destinations on it quickly enough to figure out where I need to turn off.

At WDW there are these blue signs with 13 arrows and 13 destinations that are on the straightaway and you don't have a circle to go around again and read it a second time to make up your mind ...

 

[squirrlygirl]

Yes.


At WDW there are these blue signs with 13 arrows and 13 destinations that are on the straightaway and you don't have a circle to go around again and read it a second time to make up your mind ...

But I've been to Disney enough that I know where I'm going even if I miss my turn Since I've avoided the double roundabout at home, I'm still clueless

 

[klacey1]

I personally HATE rotaries, especially at night! I usually slow down to about 10 mph and take it as slow as possible to MAKE SURE I go the right way