Take Care using Traffic Circles

[Madelaine Amee]

Almost every day I travel from the 466 area to Sumter Landing using Belvedere/Buena Vista and the traffic circle at Belvedere/Winifred. Yesterday I was returning home approaching the traffic circle from the south, had slowed down to get into the traffic circle and make my turn around and into Belvedere, when a large white truck came down on my right hand side at high speed and literally blew through the traffic circle without stopping. At the same time there was a small white car making its way around the traffic circle and out onto Winifred - thankfully he must have realized that the truck was not going to stop and had slowed to a stop across my lane. The truck blew through at high speed and the driver of the small car very carefully proceeded out of the traffic circle into Winifred. There is no doubt in my mind that had the car driver not stopped in the circle he would have been a fatality.

I am posting this as a warning to people who are relatively new to the area to take care when entering the circles, you really do not know whether the other drivers on the road know how to use the circles.

So use your indicators so that other people know where you are going and slow down to a safe speed when entering and exiting the circles.

[Blessed2BNTV]

Whether new or long time TV's, sometimes we ALL need a reminder. Thanks for the post.

[NotGolfer]

Great reminder!!! I see personal vehicles who do that ALL the time as well. It's like the "yield" sign means nothing! Some folks don't even appear to look!

[Bogie Shooter]

Here we go again.:popcorn::popcorn:

[Ruthtomnorma3]

Here we go again.:popcorn::popcorn:

Agree,but we all need reminders out there ... Hopefully the light bulb will come on for the non compliant drivers
Oh, I like my popcorn with cinnamon/sugar mixture...

[Happinow]

Here we go again.:popcorn::popcorn:


I see no reason to bring out the popcorn. The OP is trying to warn everyone of the potential danger of the round a bouts.It has been discussed many other times but there seems to be a lot of problems navigating them. This is one subject that needs and gets a lot of attention. When someone brings out the popcorn symbol, I think that it gives the impression that their post is not important. I, for one, appreciate hearing everyone's experiences in the round a bouts. It let's us know what to look out for and may save someone from getting I to an accident.

[Bogie Shooter]

Here you go, 4 previous threads with over 300 posts of experiences, opinions, attacks, etc...........................
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/no-legal-way-exit-roundabout-resident-gate-117297/
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/roundabout-pinellas-morse-100808/
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/navigating-roundabout-108019/
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/roundabouts-vs-stop-signs-90733/

[billethkid]

So use your indicators so that other people know where you are going and slow down to a safe speed when entering and exiting the circles.

Noble and appropriate intention. Unfortunately there is a too large number of RESIDENTS in TV who feel and act as though ANY and all rules do not apply to them.

TV is FL friendliest home town.....unless they are behind the wheel (statement based on being here 10 years of near misses and hit twice in traffic circles).

[Biker Dog]

TURN SIGNAL!!!! Please learn to use them.

[Laurie2]

Ah, yes. The predictable, pejorative popcorn symbol.

I think it is just fine to do reminders about the roundabouts. A good thing. Brand new threads even. Might help somebody.

Some of us are new kids here at this giant high school. Still figuring things out. And though I actually like the roundabouts, I am anything but nonchalant about entering and exiting. (You will see me. I drive a white car with Florida plates.)

And now, in spite of the expressions of ennui this could trigger, I must relate my first experience of seeing someone headed the wrong direction in a roundabout. When the wrong-way driver exited the Lake Miona Rec parking lot one night, the roundabout there caused serious confusion. It turned out OK though.

[Madelaine Amee]

Here we go again.:popcorn::popcorn:

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit! Sarcasm is a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt.

[alzjr]

The sheriff road patrol could cure this and most other traffic problems in about 2 weeks. Write lots of tickets and publisize the fines paid. Drivers of cars, golf carts, and bicycles will have a quick attitude change when they are hit in the pocketbook!

[getdul981]

Here we go again.:popcorn::popcorn:

You read the subject of the thread the same as everyone else did. You did not have to read the content.

[Bogie Shooter]

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit! Sarcasm is a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt.

:a20:

[Chi-Town]

My feeling on the roundabouts is that people don't have a disregard for the law, they just don't know. And after five years of going through them I have come to realize there is no hope. I approach them as if everybody is a kamikaze pilot.

[graciegirl]

My feeling on the roundabouts is that people don't have a disregard for the law, they just don't know. And after five years of going through them I have come to realize there is no hope. I approach them as if everybody is a kamikaze pilot.

I agree with Chi-Town and also with Bogie. It is because he like many of us have been here for many years and have read dozens of round about threads and that is the reason he put up the popcorn symbol. I think popcorn means, I am going to sit and watch this new discussion. That is all. I don't think he meant it to be malicious. Bill of Bill-n-Brillo would put up the popcorn symbol and when he went to Crispers he would pass out a sack of popcorn for everyone.

[Laurie2]

My feeling on the roundabouts is that people don't have a disregard for the law, they just don't know. And after five years of going through them I have come to realize there is no hope. I approach them as if everybody is a kamikaze pilot.


Perfect perspective. Excellent plan.

And we have to remember that sometimes a turn signal is just a turn signal. Signifying nothing. Or anything.

Now, I must go get into my white car with the Florida plates and navigate a few roundabouts to drive to Publix. (I love Publix. I love the green shirts and bright lights. But I have to run past that alluring bakery section, holding my nose and trying not to look. -- but sometimes I just can't get past it.)

Seeya in the roundabouts. :wave:

[sunnyatlast]

Thousands of new people move into TV every year. They cannot possibly have seen, much less read, the lengthy prior threads on here, about roundabout safety.

The o.p. is 100% correct in bringing this danger to our attention. Most newbies know how to navigate a single-lane roundabout, but they often have never driven one with 2-lane exits.

For newcomers: Do not enter the roundabout if anybody is coming around in the quadrant on your left. Yield to them, as they might be coming 3/4 of the way around and are about to exit the circle onto the street to your right. You can get t-boned because they expect you to yield to traffic coming on your left when you're about to enter (as the driver of the small white car would have been expecting the truck to do, IF the truck driver had obeyed the Yield sign before entering like a speed demon).

Also, stagger your spacing to not be beside anybody inside the circle. Sometimes boneheads change lanes inside the circle, and sometimes trucks or high SUVs have rolled over on the sharp curves of the circles. (Yesterday there was a cement truck roll over, and my first hope was that it wasn't in a roundabout, next to a car.)

I've seen a Sumter County brochure on safe navigation of these 2-lane exit roundabouts. Maybe somebody can find it.

[rubicon]

The OP description very apt and the suggestion of using turn signals prudent and something I do on a continuum .

Unfortunately not all residents are on TOTV and if they not all take heed and/or simply forget such admonishments

From the standpoint of signal use, I treat every round-a-bout as if it were a four corner intersection so that those vehicles around me know if I intend to exit or enter the circle. Unfortunately as respects signals apparently many residents buy cars not equipped with signals. I suppose by foregoing this feature they save money on their purchase

[red tail]

Here we go again.:popcorn::popcorn:

it came early this year!

[Aandjmassage]

Can make you dizzy after going around so many of them.:screwy:

[NoMoSno]

Can make you dizzy after going around so many of them.:screwy:

Yes, but you are supposed to exit by 3/4 around.
Unless you get stuck in the inside lane....:eek:...:thumbup:

[RErmer]

TURN SIGNAL!!!! Please learn to use them.

:agree: Lack of turn signal use is a particular pet peeve of mine, especially when the police don't use them!

[Bonanza]

You would think that with all the issues, accidents and expense of keeping up with the eye candy planted in the circles four times a year, that the developer would have done something a little different and definitely safer, instead of the dreaded circles. There are two down at Brownwood that are within less than 1/4 of a mile of each other. You barely straighten out your steering wheel and are into the next one.

Yes, the circles are beautiful to look at but that's the extent of it. Their diameters are too small to be effective or safe. I've said before that they are gas guzzlers and play havoc on our tires.

I hope these circles aren't in the cards for the new area in Fruitland Park. There are many beautiful things that can be done to enhance the intersections, that besides being Villages eye candy, are safe, too.

[cattywampus]

Some of drivers of the white trucks may not understand "YIELD"

Perhaps a sign with "Ceda el Paso" could be added below the "Yield"

[sunnyatlast]

You would think that with all the issues, accidents and expense of keeping up with the eye candy planted in the circles four times a year, that the developer would have done something a little different and definitely safer, instead of the dreaded circles. There are two down at Brownwood that are within less than 1/4 of a mile of each other. You barely straighten out your steering wheel and are into the next one.

Yes, the circles are beautiful to look at but that's the extent of it. Their diameters are too small to be effective or safe. I've said before that they are gas guzzlers and play havoc on our tires.

I hope these circles aren't in the cards for the new area in Fruitland Park. There are many beautiful things that can be done to enhance the intersections, that besides being Villages eye candy, are safe, too.

"The developer" put in the roundabouts to be "eye candy"?????????????

That's not what the county sheriff and Federal Highway Administration say in the Roundabout video on the Sumter Sheriff's Office website here (6th video on the page)…

Public Service Video:
Modern Roundabouts: A Safer Alternative
PSA's and Videos (http://www.sumtercountysheriff.org/publicsvc/psa_videos.php)

[Barefoot]

Almost every day I travel from the 466 area to Sumter Landing using Belvedere/Buena Vista and the traffic circle at Belvedere/Winifred. Yesterday I was returning home approaching the traffic circle from the south, had slowed down to get into the traffic circle and make my turn around and into Belvedere, when a large white truck came down on my right hand side at high speed and literally blew through the traffic circle without stopping. At the same time there was a small white car making its way around the traffic circle and out onto Winifred - thankfully he must have realized that the truck was not going to stop and had slowed to a stop across my lane. The truck blew through at high speed and the driver of the small car very carefully proceeded out of the traffic circle into Winifred. There is no doubt in my mind that had the car driver not stopped in the circle he would have been a fatality.

I am posting this as a warning to people who are relatively new to the area to take care when entering the circles, you really do not know whether the other drivers on the road know how to use the circles.

So use your indicators so that other people know where you are going and slow down to a safe speed when entering and exiting the circles.

Thanks Madelaine, we all occasionally need a reminder. This would also be valuable if it were published as a "Letter to the Editor" in the online newspaper or in the Daily Sun.

I have no doubt that people need a reminder about driving the roundabouts safely. However I fear that publishing a reminder on TOTV doesn't reach the newbies or contractors or renters. Many members of TOTV either don't reside in TV yet, or are long-term residents.

Still, it's a step in the right direction, and a well-deserved reminder. I hope we're reminded again in the Daily Sun when Silly Season commences.

[Bonanza]

"The developer" put in the roundabouts to be "eye candy"?????????????

That's not what the county sheriff and Federal Highway Administration say in the Roundabout video on the Sumter Sheriff's Office website here (6th video on the page)…

Public Service Video:
Modern Roundabouts: A Safer Alternative
PSA's and Videos (http://www.sumtercountysheriff.org/publicsvc/psa_videos.php)

Yes -- our circles are "eye candy."
They are beautiful, always meticulously maintained, and visitors and would be buyers are in awe of them . . .
until they live here.

They are too small and consequently, cause more prooblems than they solve.
I have lived in many cities that make use of circles and the ones here are the smallest (in diameter) I have ever seen or tried to navigate around.

Regardless of what the video is telling you, most residents don't know how to navigate them and/or are intimidated by what the other guy may do.

[slipcovers]

Yes -- our circles are "eye candy."
They are beautiful, always meticulously maintained, and visitors and would be buyers are in awe of them . . .
until they live here.

They are too small and consequently, cause more prooblems than they solve.
I have lived in many cities that make use of circles and the ones here are the smallest (in diameter) I have ever seen or tried to navigate around.

Regardless of what the video is telling you, most residents don't know how to navigate them and/or are intimidated by what the other guy may do.


Apparently, you didn't bother to watch the video. I think the experts in the field, including AARP, know better. I trust their knowledge, education, and testing. The bottom line, they are far safer than lights, or 4 way stops signs... period. It is not too late to "Get out of Dodge"

[Bogie Shooter]

Leave Dodge? And miss the opportunity to complain? :1rotfl:

[tommy steam]

Be a very, defensive driver.

[rubicon]

The round-a-bouts design allows the continue and even flow of traffic and are far superior to 4 corner intersection and safer. Those have problems are either new to the area, not paying attention or timid drivers. These same driver would have problems in bigger cities with on/off ramps metered ramps etc.

[graciegirl]

The round-a-bouts design allows the continue and even flow of traffic and are far superior to 4 corner intersection and safer. Those have problems are either new to the area, not paying attention or timid drivers. These same driver would have problems in bigger cities with on/off ramps metered ramps etc.


Someone please post the signs that show how to navigate the roundabout so we can look at them again. The ones that are just prior to all roundabouts. With the arrows and where you should enter in order to exit right, straight or left.

[Bogie Shooter]

They are on the right side and are green........................:icon_wink:

[Bonanza]

Apparently, you didn't bother to watch the video. I think the experts in the field, including AARP, know better. I trust their knowledge, education, and testing. The bottom line, they are far safer than lights, or 4 way stops signs... period. It is not too late to "Get out of Dodge"

I didn't know you posted a video, dearie??? I have no problem with "experts knowing better" regarding the circles. What I do have a problem with is their size here in TV and the amount of traffic they need to control. They are simply too small in diameter.

In addition, I'm sure you've noticed because you are so very aware, but the signs posted before entering the circles, belie the painted lines within the circles.

By the way, I don't have a Dodge and never had one.
:boxing2:

[Bonanza]

.....

[Villages PL]

What's the speed limit on a roundabout? I need to know so I can set my cruise-control.

[DougB]

Those who have trouble with the roundabouts should probably turn in their license. It's not that complicated.

[Bonanza]

Those who have trouble with the roundabouts should probably turn in their license. It's not that complicated.

I guess that means everyone will have to sell their car and buy a bicycle, in-line skates or a Segway!

[Barefoot]

Those have problems are either new to the area, not paying attention or timid drivers. These same driver would have problems in bigger cities with on/off ramps metered ramps etc.

Unfortunately MANY drivers in TV are new to the area, inattentive, timid, old, poor eyesight, etc. That's why they are living in a retirement community and not driving in bigger cities.

If you read the many previous threads on roundabouts, even posters that have driven the roundabouts for years don't agree on "the rules". But if we all drive defensively, assuming other drivers may cut us off without warning, we'll do OK.

[Polar Bear]

Those who have trouble with the roundabouts should probably turn in their license. It's not that complicated.

You're probably a roundabout veteran. I'm sure they don't feel that simple to those who have never (or rarely ever) driven roundabouts before.

[DougB]

I guess that means everyone will have to sell their car and buy a bicycle, in-line skates or a Segway!

Not everyone.

[Walter123]

What's the speed limit on a roundabout? I need to know so I can set my cruise-control.

20 MPH.... and you will have trouble setting your CC to that.

[Villages PL]

20 MPH.... and you will have trouble setting your CC to that.

Just kidding, I don't have cruise control on my car. I like to go around slowly which is usually not a problem in the summer months. When the traffic gets heavier, the problem is that other cars often try to pass me on my right, as though they are in a hurry.