Who knows how to drive on the round-a-bouts?
 

I drove from Sanibel to LSL on Morse today and saw seven villagers break the rules on the round-a-bouts. I went to a party and mentioned this to a long time villager and he argued with me saying the violators were correct. They were clearly wrong so I told the gentleman to read the round-a-bouts brochure and come back and tell me again they were right. Does anyone read the brochure and drive correctly on these things? I told my wife to assume everyone will screw up and to be super defensive. Have you read the brochure and do you drive the round-a-bouts correctly?

Yoo-hoo...........calling Bogie Shooter!!!! :D

Yes.....and yes.

I believe all the roundabouts now have the correct/updated signage telling how to roll through them properly. There should be no question about what you can do from which lane now.

Bill :)

That is what I thought. But these people either don't read the signs or don't care what they say. We're there signs showing the wrong directions?

Read the damn signs! Enough said!

Not sure why you would ask this question. There are about 10 or more threads with hundreds and hundreds of opinions in answer to your question.

Not to open old roundabout wounds--and with my memory, I could very well be wrong--but I thought the brochure we received last fall stated you couldn't take the second exit (i.e., 180 degrees, or theoretically going straight through the "intersection") from the right lane. Then a POA bulletin said the brochure was in error, and you could take the second exit from the right lane.

So maybe reading the brochure can add to the confusion.

My New Business
 

Golfer In Sanibel you will get many helpful replies.

Here is a diagram from that brochure. It is correct.
Attachment 3504

Bogie,
I think Golfer was asking a purely rhetorical question out of very justified frustration.

Who knows how to drive on round-a-bouts? I do ....carefully

Change them to 1 lane and solve all the problems

I thought I did but judging by how many people do it differently, maybe I don't?

I'm soooooooooo confused.

I think the big secret is to not be directly along side another car.

The only time I have a problem is when I am in the left lane and plan exit right at the second exit. When passing the first exit a car enters the right lane and plans to continue to his second exit. So when I am planning to exit from the left, he is planning to continue to his exit. I think both are legally in the right lane but who has the right of way. I am cautious and let the car on the right pass through first but cars behind me honk as if I should keep on going. Hope you understand this description.

there is an app for that....up north we have arrows for the newly roundabout users

You are correct, this is an inherent problem with the two lane roundabouts. The cure for this problem is no one should enter the right lane directly side-by-side with someone in the left or inside lane.

....and with great fear and trepidation.

I have had the same problem on numerous occasions. I checked with the sheriff's department to clairfy this situation. Their reply:

Since you were in the roundabout first, you have the right of way.

great picture, for when I move down there.

This is my first reply on TOTV, but I feel very passionate about the roundabouts. They are very, very dangerous. I think they should all be reduced to just one lane and then the problems go away. You might have to wait a short time to get on, but I'll bet the wait would be shorter than a stoplight and we all endure stoplights.

The dangerous situation is when someone properly takes the second exit from the inside lane but crosses over into the curb lane of the exit street thus side swiping the car using the same exit from the outside roundabout lane (who may be just carefully taking his first exit). It is easy to understand how they work if you just think of it as a two lane road with curves and stay in your lane. If your are in the left lane, stay there. If you are in the right lane, stay there.

One more question..
 

I think I understand now about which lane goes which way, but what happens when there are cars coming from the other direction?

It doesn't matter how many people read the Brochures or examine the Diagrams, and drive correctly in the roundabouts. There will always be people who misunderstand the rules, or just don't care, for example delivery vehicles, contractors, short-term renters. So drive with caution!

It's easy
 

Right lane to turn LEFT. Left lane to turn RIGHT. Or is that the other way around? I wish my mother was still alive. She had eyes in the back of her head and she would make a great co-pilot in the circles.:eek:

Just do what most other people do...Close your eyes and proceed quickly....

Just make believe it's a 4 lane 4 way stop. To turn right or go straight you would use the right lane. To turn left you would use the left lane. Now drive the roundabout as if those 4 lanes were the same as the 4 way stop.

My favorite was last week I was turning from southbound Belvedere onto southbound Buena Vista, which is the first right turn. A car came up to my left alonside from Belvedere and also made the first right onto Buena Vista but they were using the inside lane. How anyone could think to go to the inside lane to make the first right turn would be OK is beyond me.

John W, I like your explanation-Now that is easy to understand! I grew up in a town with a circle for the square in the center of town. I understood how to navigate it and, yes, the car already in the circle always had the right of way. I do seem to have a problem with these roundabuts however.

Exactly. That is the most common mistake. If you are on the inside lane and the exit street is two lane you have to stay to the left lane while exiting. So many people change lanes as they exit and dive into the right exit lane. Confused yet? Hahaha. The first time I was here I studied the signs and brochures. I was northbound on Morse exiting to Odell at the Mallory Square area. A driver dove into my lane from the inside, blew her horn and glared at me. I told my wife, what the heck. She is suppose to stay left and you aren't to change lanes on the circle. Two errors. I see this mistake all the time. And TV veterans believe it's ok to do this.

need more opinions?


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I am from New Jersey, the home of the original "US circles." I have lived with them all of my life and they have always been a pain in the butt. NJ started to do away with them at least 20 years ago. I was really surprised to find them being so "fashionable" here. The trick is to NEVER be next to another car and to ALWAYS signal your intent...oh yeah, and pray a lot!

I've driven round-a-bouts in Europe, Central and South America, Bermuda, Caribbean and this great country of ours and I've always had no question on how to navigate through them even when they drive on the left side of the road in other countries. I've thought about your dilemma in TV and i make this observation......you have created two lanes in your round-a-bouts. One single lane as other posters have suggested is your answer IMHO. I can only think of one other location ( i'm sure there's many more) where there is more than one lane....that's in Paris! My God! I close my eyes as we enter the round-a-bout circling the Arc De Triomphe not wanting to observe the mayhem! I think one lane will end this post for good and the popcorn will have to be popped for other long winded posts.
Respectfully, buzz

but they have pretty flowers in the middle

Even posters on TOTV disagree on the correct way to drive a rotary! All you need to know is .... NEVER be next to another car, and don't expect others to follow the rules.

This is how it is done, IF you are making the first right after entering the circle you need to be in the right lane, if you are making the 2nd or 3rd right then you need to be in the left lane entering the circle. If a car enters the circle in the left or inside lane, and makes the 2nd right and there is a car in the outside or right lane and decides to keep going around the circle and hits the car on the inisde, you will get a ticket for doing just that. Just seen it this weekend and talked with the FHP.

Now the only problem to that theory is for commercial vehicles such as large trucks, mixer trucks, tractor trailers and so on. If they enter on the inside lane, then the traffic on right lane will be in blind spot. SO YOU MUST BE CAREFUL when entering the circle. ALSO it is a yield to enter the circles, for the life of me can understand whey people stop and sit there and look when no one is coming. If someone is that confused, maybe time to stop driving..

[QUOTE=GaryW;524389]This is how it is done, IF you are making the first right after entering the circle you need to be in the right lane, if you are making the 2nd or 3rd right then you need to be in the left lane entering the circle.

WRONG!

Refer back to the illustration in Indy's post #8 - you can enter the roundabout in the right lane as well as the left lane to make the 2nd right.

Bill :)

If you are exiting the round about from the left had lane be very aware of what's on your right. You might have the right of way but you'll be sitting there with a smashed car, or worse, saying, "I was in the right.

Better yet change lanes before you get to the exit. Think of the round about as a straight section of roadway with two lanes. You need to check the lane you are about to change into.

I come from Massachusetts, one of the few state to have round abouts, (or rotaries as we call them). The whole thing is just being very aware of other cars around you. Plan a head if you know where you're going. If you don't know where you're going another loop around may be the safer choice.

In the left hand lane.

Forget about what's legal. When taking the first or second exit the safest lane is the outside lane. The inside lane should be used for taking the third exit and should be avoided if taking the second exit.

The exception is the Stillwater/Buena Vista RAB. As you approach the RAB from Stillwater the sign is correct but the arrows in the RAB itself lead you to believe you can be in either lane when entering the RAB and take a left onto Buena Vista. Every man for himself on that one.

Of course, you should always be aware if you enter the RAB alongside another vehicle. You should have your shields up and be ready to take evasive action.

If a speed limit sign says 65 mph is there any question what the rule is?

If a sign at the end of the street says STOP is there any question what the rule is?

If a sign....


The point is there is only ONE way to do the roundabouts. It's not rocket science and it is not up to interpretation. The procedure is clearly posted in that nice visual on the Sumter county site we've posted many, many times.

Yes everyone has there own way of making sure others don't mistakenly bang into them (Personally I enter alone if possible or lag behind to make sure I can take any action necessary). But the law is not in question as some here make you believe. It's cut and dry and police will tell you that after you've been in an accident that you think was someone's fault and YOU get the ticket!!