How were you taught to signal at rotaries/roundabouts? (lane, drivers, rotary)
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I use a couple of rotaries on a regular basis; I'd wager that over 50% of drivers don't signal at all when they use a roundabout (or at least they don't seem to when I'm around), so I thought I'd see what others were taught.
I always turn on my right signal as I pass the exit before mine, or before I enter the circle if I'm taking the very first exit. If I'm going more than half-way around, I start off with the left signal, and then switch over to the right when I'm about to exit.
The signal on exit is probably the most important, because it lets people who are waiting to enter know they can take your spot. The left signal, especially on this rotary, is to make it crystal clear that I am passing the straight-on exit (the lanes are in a sort of spiral configuration, so it can look like you're turning out, even though you might not be).
Basically, I try to make my intentions crystal clear.
Roundabouts were not common when I was learning to drive, so I didn't learn anything about signaling while in one.
When you're approaching one it's obvious you're turning right, so there's no real need to signal. However, when I'm in one, I always use my right-turn signal when I'm coming to the street I'll be exiting on to. It's just common sense.
Word from a person who grew on them. In another country.
1. When you approach roundabout, you yield to traffic on it and turn R signal on
2. When in roundabout, you turn on R signal BEFORE the exit you will be taking. Hence, person that is approaching roundabout, knows your intentions, instead of coming to complete halt.
3. There are major roundabouts that have several lanes, sometimes 4-5. When in roundabout of this nature, you treat it like regular multi-lane road and signal all lane changes.
Word from a person who grew on them. In another country.
1. When you approach roundabout, you yield to traffic on it and turn R signal on
2. When in roundabout, you turn on R signal BEFORE the exit you will be taking. Hence, person that is approaching roundabout, knows your intentions, instead of coming to complete halt.
3. There are major roundabouts that have several lanes, sometimes 4-5. When in roundabout of this nature, you treat it like regular multi-lane road and signal all lane changes.
If your in the inner lane on a 5 lane roundabout, are you stuck driving circles all day?
In my town, we have two roundabouts, and I avoid them at all cost. In another 5 to 10 years, the state and village planners will realize what a big mistake it was constructing them, because the area will grow more, and there'll be more traffic, too much traffic for the present roundabouts to handle.
If your in the inner lane on a 5 lane roundabout, are you stuck driving circles all day?
Only if you don't know how to change lanes.
I never learned how to drive in a roundabout. They aren't common here, so the few times I've encountered one, I just treated it like a regular road which rather unsurprisingly is exactly how you're supposed to. There's one round about that's two lanes that I used to take a few times a month. Right lane is "exit only," left lane is straight or exit. It's clearly marked. It's not confusing. It's the same way it was before they put the stupid roundabout in. I just got to the point where I went out of my way to avoid it. Take a regular road and turn it into a circle intersection and people just forget how to drive. You constantly had people in the right exit only lane proceeding straight and running into cars that were exiting from the straight/exit lane. Chances were so high of there being an accident backing up the traffic it was just easier to take the next exit off the freeway and backtrack.
We're slowly getting them put in all over the twin cities, I've had no problems with any of them including 2 lane ones, but I can only imagine getting stuck in the inner lane in London during rush hour and having to drive the circle 10 times working your way to the exiting lane....I could be wrong too.
Thank god there aren't many, if any at all here. Whenever I travel to a state where they are popular and get caught up to one I always think of 'European Vacation". Yep, that is me.
I do find that roundabouts make for smoother progress rather than the stop start system of lights. However some junctions may well need lights in order to control traffic.
I do like the US four way intersection and wish we had that in the UK.
I also like the way that if lights fail you revert to a four way system. Here if lights fail it becomes a free for all.
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