People still can't negotiate Augusta's rotaries properly! (Calais: cost of, bus)

[CoastalMaineiac]

Originally Posted by mainelander

It doesnt help if the rotary is so busy its nearly impossible to move to outer lane

Well, if you choose the correct lane ahead of time, you shouldn't need to shift lanes to exit, just stay left as you exit. You can see what I mean here: Flash Earth - Zoom into satellite and aerial imagery of the Earth in Flash
The paint pretty clearly indicates that both lanes are meant to leave the rotary side by side; you should be fine so long as you don't meet the same boneheads that I run into.

That should also illustrate why I get a little bit irritated by the people trying to go all the way around in the right hand lane. They aren't staying in their lane to do so, they are cutting across the left lane in order to keep going around! It's no different than turning left from a right-turn only lane; a good way to get t-boned!

[mainelander]

thats easy to say, harder to apply sometimes.

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaineiac

The only thing I'd clarify is that you should be in the proper lane in advance of the rotary, because traffic is intended to enter, and exit, side by side.

It's always easier if everyone signals, but I'd be shocked if more than 10% of people do at rotaries.

Whenever I use an unfamiliar rotary with more than one lane, I just get in the left-most lane and do a lap or two around it while I figure out where I want to go.

Excellent point--being in the proper lane before entering the rotary helps.

[mainelander]

yes but if you are in the leftmost lane you will have to merge out and thats where the problem lays

[animalcrazy]

Side by side rotaries??? Kill me now. We have a single lane one in the middle of our town and it has dozens of accidents each year. I can't imagine multiple lane and side by side rotaries together. The only time I like ours is late at night on my bike with no traffic on a warm summer night.

[Coaster]

At one time about ten years ago, the Augusta rotaries logged more accidents than any other place in Maine. Not sure what the record-holder is today. Yet we'll see more rotaries in the future. There was just a story in the Portland Press Herald about plans to install two rotaries near USM, and the MDOT put a rotary at an intersection in Bath several years ago.

If you drive in Britain or the Continent, you'll see far more rotaries than stop signs at intersections. I once drove from London to the coast in Wales, up to Liverpool, then back to London, and never once saw what we consider a "normal" intersection -- all rotaries, all the time -- until we were back in London.

[jeneric13]

I just navigated those rotaries for the first time last weekend. I thought it was just me... I've driven in third world countries that were less confusing than Augusta's "roundabouts". It might be simple to those used to driving in them, but not to those that aren't.

And while we are on the subject of driving... what does Maine have against properly labeled road signs that tell you IN ADVANCE when a lane will be a turn-only lane? And how about putting street names in a clearly visible location (I'm looking at you, Bangor)? Lol, reminds me of the first season of The Wire...

[CoastalMaineiac]

How to use a Roundabout

For anyone who isn't really sure what the proper way is to use a rotary, I think the link above does a pretty good job of showing how it's done "by the book."

[Northern Maine Land Man]

There are a whole lot of people in Maine who have never seen a rotary. It's a terrifying experience the first time you encounter one. Etiquette varies with these from state to state. People who traverse these evil devices come to expect certain results as they pass through that familiar route. Just be aware that somebody else in the circle is in there for the first time and he does not see you. He is trying to read signs and dodge the other first timers diving into the traffic jam.

[CoastalMaineiac]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

There are a whole lot of people in Maine who have never seen a rotary. It's a terrifying experience the first time you encounter one. Etiquette varies with these from state to state. People who traverse these evil devices come to expect certain results as they pass through that familiar route. Just be aware that somebody else in the circle is in there for the first time and he does not see you. He is trying to read signs and dodge the other first timers diving into the traffic jam.

When I was learning to drive, it was like a right of passage to know how to navigate them. My parents took me there and at least made sure I was able to figure out when to go and which lane to use. I hated them when I was learning to drive, not for fear (As a teenager, I was too dumb to be afraid of anything, anyway), but just thought it was a pain. After a few times, I actually grew to like them, mostly because of the time saved as opposed to waiting at a light.

But when I was first learning, I thought merging into those things during rush hour was like trying to put your finger in between the teeth of a spinning saw blade without getting cut!

Really though, if people aren't learning how to deal with these things in drivers' ed, and the state seems to want to build more and more of them, then the state ought to at least invest in some public service ads to educate the public on how to deal with them.