Scary Roundabout Story
 

After tonight, I think I might have seen everything. ::) ::)
We were headed out towards Mulberry Rec Center and CR42 via Buena Vista. As we were approaching the roundabout at Mulberry I noticed a car stopped in the rotary just before where we would enter the roundabout. To our utter amazement the car began backing up(that's right I said backing up in the roundabout!!!!).We supposed in order to exit the roundabout and enter Buena Vista which they apparently missed on the way around. Guess they didn't figure out that they could go around again....Another car was approaching from behind them. We had to exit to get to Walgreens and didn't hear any screeching of brakes or crunching of metal so there didn't appear to have been any concequences.
All I can say is , heads up and drive defensively folks.

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Had a similar thing happen to me yesterday. I was in the roundabout by Arnold Palmer and a car just stopped in the roundabout as I was approaching. When he saw me coming he started moving. Good thing I was driving slow.

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We encountered someone driving the inner lane of the North Morse Blvd Roundabout in the wrong direction.

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Another, "I couldn't belive my eyes" story, please! I was approaching the Morse circle on El Camino from the North. The car ahead of me, turned LEFT into the circle. Got it, TURNED LEFT into the circle. It was only a miracle that there was no accident. He/she went to the exit to 27/441. :yikes:

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I don't see the problem .....they were only going 1 way.
If you don't know I'm kidding I'm kidding folks. Lets just say all those people were from Europe and forgot how to drive in the US

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When we visited TV, Mr. BB loved the roundabouts, none of those annoying 4-way stops where each person seems to think it's time to go. But Mr. BB is pretty adventurous.

I, on the other hand, thought the roundabouts were exactly like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

This brings up another question I have for those of you who drive golf carts there.

What is it like when you have to merge with car traffic while you are in a golf cart?

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Do not drive a golf cart through a roundabout! There will be ways around it.

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Avista,

Thanks but...

I'm sorry. I see that I did not make my question clear, and it did not help that I veered a little off the topic.

I think there were some places, maybe on the south side of the north side, where golf carts were actually supposed to be in the regular street traffic for a short time.

Maybe I am not remembering correctly or maybe I saw some renegades. We did not get around to renting a golf cart while we were there so I did not get the firsthand experience.

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Not a problem. I'm getting use to incorrect info. from people who do not live here.

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Saw a tipped over dump truck at one of the roundabouts-- the one you use to get to Tall Trees from Buena Vista.

The police had put warnings out before you reached the roundabout so that made it safer.

One day a in heavy rain on Buena Vista just past a roundabout, I came across a tortoise going to the other side in the middle of the road. Came very close to hitting it because it was hard to see in the heavy downpour and I was not expecting a rather large critter in the road.

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Boomer, I understood what you meant. I'm one of those people that gets nervous when I have to merge the cart into a regular traffic. I still don't have the "hang" of it so most times I drive my car if I'm going a long distance (sometimes even a short distance.) But soon I'll be living in TV and I'm sure I'll become very accustomed to the merge. It is scary though but I see that the drivers of cars are very nice and don't try to give you a hard time (gee, guess I'm used to L.A. drivers).

Kathie :redface:

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Earlier this month, I had a close call by the Palmer course. I was in the roundabout just about at an intersection and a woman in a beat up white car entered the circle and almost t-boned me. I had to swerve left to miss her. She didn't appear to have any idea what she had just done or for that matter how to drive in roundabouts. She obviously wasn't a resident. I wonder is she's the same one some of you mentioned in this thread.

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Had an experience the other day and am not quite sure if I was in the wrong or not.

Both myself in left lane and a car in the right lane entered the circle at Morse and Stillwater, coming from 466. Now we were side by side going into roundabout and I had was heading down Morse towards Hadley Village.

Well this car decides to stay in the circle and forces me and the car behind me to come to a hard stop, as it passed in front of me and went on into I gess its called Caroline on Stillwater.

What got me was the driver never signalled and I was sure not to hit him but came so close to getting rear ended. Now I am a pretty calm driver, but what elevated my temper was the A-hole behind me who flashed, beeped the horn repeatedly and gave me the finger while passing me eventually on the right.

I did notice the plate was from NY.

Now was I in the wrong or what?

What are the roundabout rules anyway?

Perhaps when TV does a preview they should explain these rules to perspective buyers.

:cus: :cus: :cus:

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

As we were heading down 27/441 today around 4pm..just as we were approaching the bridge to turn toward Ruby Tuesdays..we saw a man in a golf cart driving right down 27/441 toward Perkins...
not a super duper gas powered over the road model...Nope
Im talkin an old plain model...riding down as though he owned road..

sure hope he made it........cars were zooming quickly by

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

All Villagers should be sent to the UK to navigate in and out of one of those intersections where many of the feeders from one roundabout connect directly to second or even third roundabouts ! I don't think it is our having roundabouts that is the problem --- the drivers who haven't figured them out haven't yet figured how to drive, period! I also cannot believe that with all the rhetoric about roundabouts in TV that the authorities have not put out a definitive mode of useage? I was taught (not neccessarily correct in TV) that if you need first exit or straight through stay in right lane. If you need any of the next exits stay in left lane, use your indicators ( a novel idea here in TV !!!) and exit accordingly.

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If you have navigated the gigantic traffic circle in Portsmith, NH, traffic circles in TV are less of a traumatic encounter. I have not yet seen anyone in TV going the wrong way which would freak me out but have also seen cars stop in the middle a couple of times.

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I spent 1/2 of my adult life in eastern Massachusetts, and a good deal of time not far from the afore mentioned Portsmouth, NH circle. There are several roundabouts there...we called them rotary's. The difference being they were open, no buildings or high vegetation, so you had the whole picture of the traffic pattern in the rotary. Here they are landscaped and some have buildings, so it is hard to see the vehicle flow. Perhaps that contributes to the confusion for some who aren't familiar with their proper use. :dontknow: :dontknow:

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Are the MA roundabouts bigger or the same size than the ones in TV? Heard that they were quite a bit bigger in eastern MA?

This link has an interesting picture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout_intersection

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Good point Tal:
Yes, they are bigger and several of them connect major road ways, so it is imperative to know how to negotiate them.

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

As long as there are roundabouts in the Villages there will be driving issues with the navigation.

Drive defensively, please. :cop: :bow:

Scary Roundabout Story
 

Speaking of roundabouts and driving errors, I've seen people doing such ridiculous things it's as if they're on Candid Camera and just trying to provoke a reaction. Unfortunately they just sail along impervious to those around them.

The worst thing I've seen so far (and I've seen it twice) is automobiles driving in golf cart paths and approaching tunnels. :yikes: This seems to happen when there is no marker showing it is a divided path, and I guess drivers "mistake" the golf cart path for a roadway.

Be alert my friends!

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I've said it before and I'll say it again, TV roundabouts are small and allowing double turn lanes in such a small circle is dangerous.

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It seems to me that if everyone just used the right lane in a roundabout, you couldn't go wrong.

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Amen to that! In fact, when we moved here we took the class on golf cart driving. The Sumter County deputy was asked about driving ones car in a roundabout. That is exactly what the Sumter County deputy told us. "Just stay in the right lane!"

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That's fine until the person on your left makes a right turn and you don't.

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We always have to watch out. Seems wrong to make an exit from inner lane.

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My experince --- roundabouts only make sense to people from Boston and London. All others are almost always confounded by the functioning aspects of a roundabout.

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The right thing to do is obviously to be on the defensive,

Correct usage is to be in Rt lane only if you are taking the first Rt turn.
You need to be thinking as you are approaching the roundabout, where you will exit.
If it is any one except the first turn, you need to be in the left lane.

As an example: you are traveling south on Buena Vista and approacing the circle at Belvedere and Winifred. If you are exiting for Belvedere, you need to be in the Rt lane.
If you need to continue on Buena Vista, or exit to Winifred or U-Turn to go back north on Buena Vista, you would need to be in the left lane.

Ok , My wife and I are both civil engineers (wife specifically a traffic Engineer) and understand what is correct, and what actuallty happens.It will never be perfect, but believe me it would be much worst with traffic signals at each 4 way intersection.
If you nchecked accident statistics of accidents from folks running red lights down here, it would be scary.

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:agree:
Exit from the right lane only... continue in the center lane.

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You are correct on what lane to be in BUT the local law says stay in the outside lane. These roundabouts are real small compared to most so they say stay out of the inner circle. As stated before we have been told that the roundabouts have the two lanes so trucks can get around them.

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These roundabouts are too small for all this lane changing!

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The traffic lanes painted in the circles lead the inside lane into right turns. Haven't seen that anywhere else. Dangerous.

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Simple roundabout rules:

Right lane to turn right or continue straight.
Left lane to continue straight, make left turn or continue around.

If you are in the right lane and continue around the roundabout you are
in effect making a left turn from the right lane something you would never think
of doing on a regular straight road, so why is a roundabout any different.

This idea of staying in the right lane all the time know matter where you are
going is wrong and a disaster waiting to happen.

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The Sumter County Deputy says, Stay in the right lane." I still believe the circle is too small for lane changing. We are not in Europe.

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By every driving standard the deputy is wrong on this one. Ask him if he will look the
other way the next time you make a left turn from the right lane. I don't think so.
If you stay in the right lane around the roundabout you are doing just what you are
complaining about CROSSING LANES!!!!!

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I cannot believe a Deputy said to stay in the right lane as this is not only incorrect worldwide (which i do believe still includes TV) but also dangerous, surely if the inner lane was not for traffic use the engineer's would not have put it there, are this deputy's comments a rumor or is it in print anywhere?

The 2008 Villages Phone book (page 49) actually does a reasonable (if not long-winded) job of laying out roundabout instructions. Ar least they include the most important points, namely,

On approaching a roundabout, decide as early as possible which exit you need to take and get into the correct lane (1st exit right lane, straight on either lane, 3rd or any other exit left lane).

Upon reaching the roundabout yield line, Yield to Traffic circulating from the left (yield to traffic already on the roundabout)

When exiting the circulatory roadway (roundabout) from the outside track (lane), yield to leading or adjacent vehicles that are exiting into the same lane (yield to the inside lane if they are ahead or level with you)

The pieces about reducing speed, yielding to pedestrians, going around again if you miss your exit, and not stopping on the roundabout etc. should be common sense.

IMHO

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The simplest solution would be to repaint the traffic lines and abolish exits from the inner lane. That's where the problem is the worst and most dangerous.

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Don't be mislead by so called experts.....
Do what the villages and the Police tell you to do...Stay in the right lane and you will be fine......The circles are to small for lane changing and people who enter and exit from the inside lane across traffic are bound to get T-BONED someday , its just a matter of time.....

Fumar

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

jjdees is exactly right..........

Fumar

Re: Scary Roundabout Story
 

Where do The Villages or the Police say to stay in the right hand lane? the only place i have heard this is on TOTV forum,s, is there something in print or online? I would love to see it.

The Villages instructions for roundabout usage can be found in the resident Telephone directory on page 49 and certainly do not say to stay in the right hand lane.

However with all due respect to them i doubt neither TV or the local Police either design Roundabouts or have the power to issue rules regarding their use, this i am sure is done at State & Government level.

IMHO