Round-a-bouts
 

Do any of you dislike round-a-bouts as much as I do??? I've only lived here since January and I cannot tell you how many times I've about gotten creamed by another car. I'm following the rules (at least I think I am!) but I just cringe every time I come up on one! :shocked::eek:

The best thing to do is to go in cautiously. I've almost been creamed by people thinking they are supposed to cut across from the inside lane for a quick right turn directly into the right lane where they were supposed to be making the turn to begin with. Get used to practice driving defensively here in the villages.

Good advice! Always enter the traffic circle with care and not at break neck speed! Stay in your lane and exit properly and you should be fine. What you do have to watch for is people who are afraid of the circles and go all the way around on the outside lane. Also, watch out for the cocky driver who enters too fast, drives around too fast and leaves too fast - a menace.

I guess you missed this.
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...abouts-112104/
There are many more, just do a search.

To me, they are a good thing. Keeps traffic flowing. Can't imagine stop signs or lights at every intersection. :22yikes::22yikes::22yikes:

Slow Go'n thru the 'bouts will get us all home safely.

I LOVE the roundabouts! Just think if we had 4 way stop signs at every block! Usually navigating the roundabouts is smooth. Of course there are a few glitches, that is to be expected.

again....I am a ROUNDABOUT fan!:BigApplause:

Again, just read the signs before you enter. If you are going straight or turning right go in on the right. If you are going straight or turning left enter on the left but be careful of the nut behind the wheel on the right of you that you are not cut creamed as you put it.

Round-a-bouts are great. They move traffic well. Just think of the round-a-bout as a traffic light replacement.

If it was a traffic light and you wanted to turn right, you would always be in the right hand lane. If you wanted to turn left, you would always be in the left hand lane. And if you wanted to go straight through, you could use either lane.

Round-a-bouts work exactly the same way. Just always yield to anyone in the circle and follow the lanes as if it was a traffic light. They really do help move traffic.

I agree, plus if there is an accident it tends just to be a sideswipe not a near or fatal t-bone as in stop signs or lights.

Do any of you dislike roundabouts as much as i do?

NO!

Bogie Shooter posted this before and I found it quite helpful. It's slightly different than in PA because we only have one lane. We laminated this info from the link and put it in our house for the guests to read before taking off in the golf cart.

Yes!!!!!

Love the roundabouts. Keeps traffic moving well and smoothly. Wish someone could figure out how to communicate to those not familiar with them the simple fact that going around in the outside lane does not give one the right-a-wayl

I think there gr8:BigApplause:

Just how would one make a left turn? Also how long would one wait for a light so 1 car could exit a village. I think the engineers and designers that made this place so efficient and amazing, not to mention BEAUTIFUL, knows what they are doing. Go down to Fort Myers and try to navigate all the traffic lights, now that is a disaster. NO THANKS

It amazes me when people call the roundabouts dangerous. Just think about where all the serious accidents have occurred in the last several years. At Morse and 466, Morse and 466A, Buena Vista and 466, Buena Vista and 466A. Yet people want to add more similar intersections and reconfigure Morse and Buena Vista to make them into major thoroughfares. I can't recall a serious accident in a roundabout. Fender bender, yes. Life threatening, no.

The roundabouts serve their purpose well. They allow entrance and egress from villages in either direction. It's like blaming the car for an accident when it's really the nut behind the wheel.

I agree 100 percent with "mikeod"!

Try to stagger traffic so there is room for a mistake.

How can you argue with these points?

I find it amazing that every few months people go on about how unsafe the roundabouts are.
They are very easy: Don't enter when cars in the RAB are approaching, Right lane, first right turn or straight Left lane, straight, 270 deg. or 360 deg around.

I think what Bonanza meant was not that you had to stop IN a roundabout, but that you had to stop AT a roundabout.

And what does a stop signs and red traffic light mean? There was a traffic light a mile from my house in Ma with 5 streets exiting at the intersection. People were taking right on red and throw in a little road rage and there were always accidents. Now keeping in mind, this is not a congested area but a country town. Four years ago they did a feasibility and decided a rotary would be best. The know-it-alls said it would not work. Well, guess what, it is a blessing. Traffic flows, no free-for-all, road rage and no major accidents. Also a landscaping business came in a put beautiful flower and shrubs in the center, just like TV.

Well, I'm guessing there would be a difference between one roundabout on a busy street vs a dozen. I personally don't see people ignoring stop signs too much, but I'm not going to argue the feasibility of a roundabout vs a traffic light or stop sign. I just think it is confusing to a lot of the people in TV.

Just today I had two things happen at roundabouts. Not life-threatening, but not exactly safe either. While I was waiting for the car on my left to enter the roundabout so that we would not both enter at the same time, the car behind him just zipped on through so he and I were entering at the same time.

Then another time... since the intersection of the main road and the roundabout is not a full 90-degree angle, the person on my left pulled could pull up at the stop sign so far it blocked my entire view of the roundabout. I had to let her go first because I couldn't see, and the person behind me objected to that and hit the horn. I guess he could see there was no one coming because he was further back.

I agree that it is confusing, especially for us old folks. I do think the Daily Sun should have a large diagram with instructions as to how to navigate roundups. This should be done more frequently during winter months with all the snowbirds and renters here. We definitely need more education on this matter. But I love the roundabouts, they are beautiful.

I think that's an excellent idea, to have that diagram in the paper daily, especially during the winter season. Accompanied by written instructions.

This picture shows how to use the roundabouts....fairly simple....:)

Oh pooh, but what about.....................................:smiley:

What Bogie, what???:);)

I have seen these maps in various locations. Maybe this sh
ould be in the welcome packet to our visitors. I first encountoured roundabouts in England (and mind you it was on a different lane (mirror image). That really forced you to concentrate.

Roundabouts are the current vogue in Highway design . Every road project I worked on for utility relocation seemed to have a roundabout.:posting:

I think the round-abouts are the best alternative to conventional stop signs or traffic lights.
By no means are they without problem. I am never able to go from 466A to 466 without some driver doing something crazy. It requires absolute concentration - that is why, if I need to travel long distances, I prefer to travel by another route. 301, racetrack road, 441/27 generally have less traffic in such close quarters. I trust myself but I'm less trusting of other drivers.

Last year they added signs to depict how to use lanes in the circle, & in some circles they have striped 2 lanes to one, but there is no hope here. The circles are designed for low speed & low traffic volume, but too many cars going too fast are causing lots of fender benders. Eventually we will need speed bumps, signals and neighborhood watch agents with flags to reduce the carnage.

In which case we will ALL be using 301 and 441 exclusively! Seriously, I see far more people not following the rules at roundabouts than I do at stop signs and traffic lights. For every accident reported at a signaled intersection, I could report three at the St. James gate roundabout alone. It's a constant problem.

Maybe the statistics say that roundabouts are safer, but I don't think it holds true here. And I rarely encounter a roundabout on Buena Vista or Morse during the day that I don't have to stop due to the flow of traffic, so I don't see where they're easing the traffic backup all that much. JMO. I'd feel safer with stop signs and traffic signals.

Could be.

The problem is the drivers, not the roundabouts. Why is everyone in a rush, where is the emergency ? Of course you have to slow down at roundabouts. You also have to slow down at a yellow light and stop at a red light and wait. Like I said before, we need education on driving rules. It is a known fact that the elderly are bad drivers, bad eyesight, hearing and unable to turn head easily. The signs in TV are too small, especially exiting the tunnels.
?

All those posters who have the "wait but............crazy ideas that really do not make it simple.