Past activity on the subject of Roundabouts

[Bogie Shooter]

I thought it would be interesting (?) to look at how many replies the subject of roundabouts gets on TOTV.
63 Replies on thread with last post 1/2008
51 2/2008
22 1/2009
27 2/2009
83 6/2009
47 12/2009
114 and counting 2/2010 (today)
Most of these replies say the same thing...............

[Midge538]

"114 replies and still counting!!!!!"

I would think that this certainly indicates some real concerns about the viability and safety of roundabouts in a senior community.

[Pturner]

Round and round and round we go,
Till we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone


Communities with 80,000 people experience accidents
Intersections tend to have more accidents and more accidents with injuries than roundabouts, according to numerous sources. (Here are a couple:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Safety
http://www.dot.state.wi.us/library/publications/docs/pim-4-roundabouts.pdf
Roundabouts are aesthetically appealing and contribute positively to the ambience of TV.
Traffic lights are ugly, cause traffic congestion and polution and would (IMO) diminish the beauty and ambience of TV if not, as a result, the property values.
If the roundabouts were replaced with traffic lights, I suspect we'd be reading more about accidents with injuries inside TV.
Pave Lower Paradise
And put up traffic lights

[quill]

Does everyone know that the only reason the British invented the round about is to make their country appear larger. As told by one of my British friends. Many more miles driven going around in circles. And they work quite well in moving traffic and making it appear larger.

[golfnut]

pt, once again the voice of reason, i couldn't agree more, you pave paradise and put up a parking lot...gn

[Scratch]

Great conversation. Our friends across the pond have been using them for years. I've been there 25 times in my life and love them.

Some differences I see between here and there. They alway use blinkers to signal a right turn (left turn in their case) to exit circle. I've only seen one person use their blinkers in three months and he is from Scotland! Martin that works with the sales teAm! That is single biggest thing we can do for safety and nice flow of traffic.

I've done some research with the national highway safety folks. They say that America will go more towards circles and away from stop sign, lights and yields. Why? There is positive data that show over 80% reductions in personal injuries and physical vehicle damage vs their American counterparts. Thanks to the Villages for their progressive approach to traffic and your safety.

Oh yeah. One quick comment on above statement. You can exit to the right from either lane in circle. But you have to stay in your lane as you exit. It's no different than on a freeway with a two lab exit. That's why blinkers really help. It's hard to read someones mind!

Thanks. Great conversation

[jebartle]

The reason it works in England and not in TV is their circles are larger and more time to give notice of turning out of circle. IMHO

[KittyKat]

Oh yeah. One quick comment on above statement. You can exit to the right from either lane in circle. But you have to stay in your lane as you exit. It's no different than on a freeway with a two lab exit. That's why blinkers really help. It's hard to read someones mind!

Thanks. Great conversation

I assume you are talking about how they use the roundabouts in the UK but I want to draw attention to this so someone doesn't get mixed up and start doing that here. It's bad enough already. PLEASE people: according to the roundabout pamphlet if you are going to be leaving the circle at the 3rd exit, you MUST enter in the left/inside lane then cross back to the rt/resident lane or stay in lt/visitor lane upon exit to gate. I see sooo many people using the outer lane to go 3/4 of the way around to exit. The outer lane is for leaving at the 1st or 2nd exit--there is a straight arrow in the outer lane and a straight/left turn arrow in the inside lane. e.g. let's say two cars, side by side, are going South on Morse Blvd just past the LSL circle. The car in the rt lane plans on exiting at the Caroline gate. The 2 cars enter the circle. Car "A"/inside lane, plans on continuing South on Morse. As they get close to the 2nd exit(southbound) if car "B" continues going around it will broadside car "A" and much :cus:ing and body damage will occur. Car "B" should have entered the circle in the left lane. Just remember, if you are going to be exiting at the 1st or 2nd exit, stay in the right lane; if you are going to be exiting at the 3rd exit and are approaching the circle, get over in the left lane well ahead of the circle and of course, use your turn signal to indicate you are changing lanes. Thanks for your cooperation. And Scratch, welcome to TOTV!

[CMANN]

Rotarys as I call them are much too complicated in the village. In my opinion there should only be one lane in the rule should be as follows. The vehicle in the Rotary has the right-of-way. All traffic shall move single file. That's all. I do not think there would be anywhere near as many problems at those two rules are adhered to.

[skyguy79]

I assume you are talking about how they use the roundabouts in the UK but I want to draw attention to this so someone doesn't get mixed up and start doing that here. It's bad enough already. PLEASE people: according to the roundabout pamphlet if you are going to be leaving the circle at the 3rd exit, you MUST enter in the left/inside lane then cross back to the rt/resident lane or stay in lt/visitor lane upon exit to gate. I see sooo many people using the outer lane to go 3/4 of the way around to exit. The outer lane is for leaving at the 1st or 2nd exit--there is a straight arrow in the outer lane and a straight/left turn arrow in the inside lane. e.g. let's say two cars, side by side, are going South on Morse Blvd just past the LSL circle. The car in the rt lane plans on exiting at the Caroline gate. The 2 cars enter the circle. Car "A"/inside lane, plans on continuing South on Morse. As they get close to the 2nd exit(southbound) if car "B" continues going around it will broadside car "A" and much :cus:ing and body damage will occur. Car "B" should have entered the circle in the left lane. Just remember, if you are going to be exiting at the 1st or 2nd exit, stay in the right lane; if you are going to be exiting at the 3rd exit and are approaching the circle, get over in the left lane well ahead of the circle and of course, use your turn signal to indicate you are changing lanes. Thanks for your cooperation. And Scratch, welcome to TOTV!Although accurately stated, in reading through this explaination, all I could think of was the old Abbot & Costello "Whose on First" routine! Perhaps it could be simplified a bit and I'd like to give it a try. Here goes nothing! :wave:

When approaching a Round-a-Bout and going to:
1st Exit: (Turning Right) Use Right Lane / Right Signal
2nd Exit: (Going Straight) Use Either Lane / No Signal needed
3rd Exit: (Turning Left) Use Left Lane / Left Signal If, When or Where Safe To Do So
4th Exit: (Going Up or Down) Use Angel wings <or not> / Ignore Rules, Talk on Cell, Ignore Other Vehicles, Speed, Etc. :angel:

Special caution: watch out for Fumar walking his dog in the Round-a-Bout!

OK, so how did I do? :throwtomatoes:

[l2ridehd]

Pturner, I so agree with you. Roundabouts are so simple that they should be used everywhere. They look better, move traffic better, cause less accidents and are easy to use.

Think of a roundabout as two four lane roads meeting with a traffic light. If you were making a right turn, you would always approach and enter from the right lane. If you were making a left turn, you would always approach and enter from the left lane. And if you were going straight through, you would use either lane and stay in that lane all the way through the light. Roundabouts work exactly the same way.

There are only four rules to make roundabouts work.
1. Cars already in the roundabout ALWAYS have the right of way regardless of which lane they are in.
2. If you are turning right, 90 degrees, approach in the right lane and exit from the right lane.
3. If you are going straight through, 180 degrees. enter from either lane, stay in that lane and exit from that lane.
4. If you are turning left, 270 degrees, enter only from the left lane and stay in the inner lane and exit from that lane.

[Mikeod]

Having just returned from the UK, I noticed one significant difference in use of the roundabouts. The vast majority of drivers approach a roundabout with the expectation of yielding to traffic already in the roundabout, and proceed when it is clear. Here, I see a lot of drivers approaching the roundabout with no intention of yielding unless forced to do so. I see drivers who speed up to squeeze into the roundabout despite traffic already in it.

And, yes, the UK drivers use turn signals to let people approaching the roundabout know if they are exiting or continuing on in the roundabout. It really helps.

I remember reading that, in order to develop south of 466, they had to use roundabouts with two lanes in order to get approval from Sumter County for the density they planned. So, reducing the roundabouts to one lane is not going to happen.

[mulligan]

Mike just hit the proverbial nail on the head. I remember from my drivers manual, in Massachusetts, they devoted only a couple of sentences to roudabouts (we call them rotaries). The basic rule was, yield to traffic already in the rotary. Everything else is common sense.

[LI SNOWBIRD]

Round and round and round we go,
Till we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone


Communities with 80,000 people experience accidents
Intersections tend to have more accidents and more accidents with injuries than roundabouts, according to numerous sources. (Here are a couple:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Safety
http://www.dot.state.wi.us/library/publications/docs/pim-4-roundabouts.pdf
Roundabouts are aesthetically appealing and contribute positively to the ambience of TV.
Traffic lights are ugly, cause traffic congestion and polution and would (IMO) diminish the beauty and ambience of TV if not, as a result, the property values.
If the roundabouts were replaced with traffic lights, I suspect we'd be reading more about accidents with injuries inside TV.
Pave Lower Paradise
And put up traffic lights

...and funny too --as usual:agree:

[skyguy79]

Albany NY's Times Union just had an article about roundabouts that indicate that crashes increased after the roundabouts were built in NY's Capital Region. If you're interested in reading the entire article, it's at:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/The-roundabout-Is-it-a-vicious-circle-1440833.php

[KittyKat]

Skyguy79's 1st post is the best explanation.

[brostholder]

I assume you are talking about how they use the roundabouts in the UK but I want to draw attention to this so someone doesn't get mixed up and start doing that here. It's bad enough already. PLEASE people: according to the roundabout pamphlet if you are going to be leaving the circle at the 3rd exit, you MUST enter in the left/inside lane then cross back to the rt/resident lane or stay in lt/visitor lane upon exit to gate. I see sooo many people using the outer lane to go 3/4 of the way around to exit. The outer lane is for leaving at the 1st or 2nd exit--there is a straight arrow in the outer lane and a straight/left turn arrow in the inside lane. e.g. let's say two cars, side by side, are going South on Morse Blvd just past the LSL circle. The car in the rt lane plans on exiting at the Caroline gate. The 2 cars enter the circle. Car "A"/inside lane, plans on continuing South on Morse. As they get close to the 2nd exit(southbound) if car "B" continues going around it will broadside car "A" and much :cus:ing and body damage will occur. Car "B" should have entered the circle in the left lane. Just remember, if you are going to be exiting at the 1st or 2nd exit, stay in the right lane; if you are going to be exiting at the 3rd exit and are approaching the circle, get over in the left lane well ahead of the circle and of course, use your turn signal to indicate you are changing lanes. Thanks for your cooperation. And Scratch, welcome to TOTV!
I was just going to post that as a newbie, I just don't get these traffic circles. But I did a search and found this post that explains the traffic circle "etiquette" perfectly. Thanks!

[Bogie Shooter]

All new signage and stripping coming soon in Sumter county. New learn to read class forming at the College of Lifelong Learning.

[Doodlegirl]

safer if they were one lane exiting and entering when a break in the traffic occurs. If I'm in an inside lane and a landscaping truck is next to me I may have to speed up (or the truck may) to take the exit desired.

A good example of this is the Odell/ Buena Vista Circle. I come out of the gate, wait my turn enter traffic and check my mirrors. I have to go around to the second out to get on to Buena Vista going south, now I am neck and neck with the landscaping truck however we both have arrors to show us
going left together is fine. HOWEVER, using my mirrors again, it is difficult to see if a car behind the truck wants to travel that route or go straight around me then blocking my entrance. It gets very confusing at times. One
continuouls round look with traffic entering and expiting I would think would obsolve the issues. Sometimes I've had to go around the circle and put
might blinkers on to let the person know I am trying to get on Buena Vista south. I believe these are termed traffic calming devides in many south floria locations, and they did see to work very well. Still get where you want to go, but in single line and with blinker appraoching your out at the exit.

[memason]

I thought it would be interesting (?) to look at how many replies the subject of roundabouts gets on TOTV.
63 Replies on thread with last post 1/2008
51 2/2008
22 1/2009
27 2/2009
83 6/2009
47 12/2009
114 and counting 2/2010 (today)
Most of these replies say the same thing...............

HA HA!!!!! Bogie, you know exactly what will happen now.

Are you trying to get the hit count up for the Admin ?????

OK.... let the roundabout stories/instructions/complaints/praises begin! :loco:

[EdV]

.....
There are only four rules to make roundabouts work.
1. Cars already in the roundabout ALWAYS have the right of way regardless of which lane they are in.
2. If you are turning right, 90 degrees, approach in the right lane and exit from the right lane.
3. If you are going straight through, 180 degrees. enter from either lane, stay in that lane and exit from that lane.
4. If you are turning left, 270 degrees, enter only from the left lane and stay in the inner lane and exit from that lane.

If they changed them to single lane round-abouts like this (http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/pubworks/EngineeringTransportation/documents/SinglelanenewBrochure.pdf) you wouldn’t need rules 2-4.

[zcaveman]

If they changed them to single lane round-abouts like this (http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/pubworks/EngineeringTransportation/documents/SinglelanenewBrochure.pdf) you would’t need rules 2-4.

True. But can you imagine the backup during the winter months trying to get people to yield into the right lane? There will always be those that will stay in the left lane as long as possible and try to merge. This will further back up traffic and make some of those that did merge very angry (and as the Banner/Hulk used to say, you do not want to see me angry - joke).

I have no problem with a two lane entrance. I have a problem with cars being able to turn from the inside/left lane across oncoming traffic to exit. I get very paranoid when someone is on my left side. Which is why I do everything I can to prevent it. Slowing down, speeding up, straddling the yellow line. But only where there are not those confusing solid/striped lines in the middle of the circle. Then I feel safe. Right!!!

Z

[Bogie Shooter]

safer if they were one lane exiting and entering when a break in the traffic occurs. If I'm in an inside lane and a landscaping truck is next to me I may have to speed up (or the truck may) to take the exit desired.

A good example of this is the Odell/ Buena Vista Circle. I come out of the gate, wait my turn enter traffic and check my mirrors. I have to go around to the second out to get on to Buena Vista going south, now I am neck and neck with the landscaping truck however we both have arrors to show us
going left together is fine. HOWEVER, using my mirrors again, it is difficult to see if a car behind the truck wants to travel that route or go straight around me then blocking my entrance. It gets very confusing at times. One
continuouls round look with traffic entering and expiting I would think would obsolve the issues. Sometimes I've had to go around the circle and put
might blinkers on to let the person know I am trying to get on Buena Vista south. I believe these are termed traffic calming devides in many south floria locations, and they did see to work very well. Still get where you want to go, but in single line and with blinker appraoching your out at the exit.

single lane was voted down by Sumter county commissioners.

[Pturner]

safer if they were one lane exiting and entering when a break in the traffic occurs. If I'm in an inside lane and a landscaping truck is next to me I may have to speed up (or the truck may) to take the exit desired.

A good example of this is the Odell/ Buena Vista Circle. I come out of the gate, wait my turn enter traffic and check my mirrors. I have to go around to the second out to get on to Buena Vista going south, now I am neck and neck with the landscaping truck however we both have arrors to show us
going left together is fine. HOWEVER, using my mirrors again, it is difficult to see if a car behind the truck wants to travel that route or go straight around me then blocking my entrance. It gets very confusing at times. One
continuouls round look with traffic entering and expiting I would think would obsolve the issues. Sometimes I've had to go around the circle and put
might blinkers on to let the person know I am trying to get on Buena Vista south. I believe these are termed traffic calming devides in many south floria locations, and they did see to work very well. Still get where you want to go, but in single line and with blinker appraoching your out at the exit.

Drivers are supposed to always use their blinkers when exiting, same as when making a left or right turn at any other intersection.

The use of blinkers is not a suggestion! :police: