How to Navigate Traffic Circles
 

Here is a good AMA video on how to navigate a Traffic Circle...

"www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wIoR7fpPJM"

If folks don't know by now, this link isn't going to help!

Very good video, thanks for posting!

One of the things that I particularly liked is the instruction to use your turn signals within the circles. I always do that, but find extremely few other drivers who do. Using turn signals within circles, particularly, helps with driver predictability.

Forget for a minute that it's a circle or roundabout. Treat it as an intersection... you wouldn't turn left from the right lane and you wouldn't turn right from the left lane. And you would use caution when another vehicle is already there.... I just don't find this difficult to understand.

For those that are cut and paste challenged .... a working link.

[ame="www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wIoR7fpPJM"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wIoR7fpPJM[/ame]

Go as fast as you can and get the hell out of them LOL

Or just stop....:)

Me neither. That's how someone on this forum explained it to me three years ago, and that has stuck in my mind ever since. It's just an intersection.

Equally important as the above:

Yield to BOTH lanes on your left before entering. Do not enter if anybody is in either lane to your left.

Friend of a friend driving us almost killed us all, jumping into the outer lane when somebody came around on our left in the innEr lane. That person in inner lane was exiting on our immediate right and cut across in front of us to exit to our right. We almost got t-boned and the car exiting to our right did it right! (Entered at our 12:00 and came 3/4 of the way around in inner lane to exit at our 3:00).

Our driver SCREAMED that her (outer) lane was clear and didn't believe us telling her to yield to both lanes. Will never ride with her again. Wants to be "right"......."dead right".

Thanks for sharing i never signal or see anyone else signal, but its a good idea and will start using my turn signal.

Chazz, I like you, always use my signals once I am in the circle if I am exiting. Good habit to get into. Let the other drivers know your intensions.

The round-a-bouts at Palmer Country Club and Atrium Dells are so helpful where they have the 2 lanes forced into 1 by painting on the pavement. Makes it much clearer what traffic is about to do.

Using the signal (blinker) actually is the law, but most drivers don't know it. It isn't just for your safety, it is also important to let the other drivers know what you want to do.

ABSOLUTELY right! I try to explain this to my "northern" friends who don't have roundabouts in their towns......really, they don't understand about not turning left from the right lane, but they would never do it from a 4 way stop sign!

The FHWA has a video about modern roundabouts that is mostly accurate (http://tinyurl.com/6v44a3x), or check out the IIHS video at TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL. There is also a Canadian TEDx talk: http://tinyurl.com/philrosetedRAB

Hawai’i video rules http://youtu.be/wEvUPUSLCwc?t=3m1s
IndyDPW animation: http://tinyurl.com/IndyDPWrabVideo
Kentucky video: http://tinyurl.com/KYrabVideo
Maryland video: http://tinyurl.com/MDrab
Michigan animation: http://tinyurl.com/MIrabVideo
Minnesota video: http://tinyurl.com/MNmultiRAB
Missouri video: http://tinyurl.com/MOrabVideo
Montpelier, VA videos http://tinyurl.com/montpelVArab
Ohio video: Pages - Learn about roundabouts
Vermont video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo8GnJRZoWE
Washington video: http://tinyurl.com/WArabVideo
Wisconsin animation: http://tinyurl.com/kv23jan
Wisconsin video: http://tinyurl.com/rabWI
Winnipeg animation VIDEO: How To Drive on a Roundabout - Access Winnipeg
BC web page: How to Use Roundabouts
Ontario web page: Roundabouts
Region of Waterloo info: Roundabout Education Campaign
Specific to Modern Roundabouts are these four rules for motorists:
1. Slow down,
2. Yield to pedestrians,
3. Look left and yield to drivers already in the circular roadway (all lanes if more than one),
4. Signal your exit (keeps things moving).

Signaling left until you’re ready to exit will also help motorists not jump in front as you go around. At a multi-lane modern roundabout, like any other multi-lane intersection, motorists should watch for the lane use signs that tell you which lane to be in based on where you want to go. Like other complex intersections, sometimes only the left lane can turn left, sometimes it can turn left and go through, and some times it can go left, through or right.