[kappy]

As long as you maintain a speed of 20 MPH or less, you should have the ability to avoid those drivers who do not know how to negotiate a roundabout.

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Bilyclub

You call it defensive, I call it obstructive. Especially when they refuse to turn when clear and wait for the next green light.

Welllllll...if they’re still behind the stop bar, then it would be illegal to start your turn after the light turns red. That’s why you proceed into the intersection...across the stop bar... while the light is green. Then when the light turns red you’re simply clearing the intersection after the approaching traffic stops and before the cross traffic starts up... there is a 1-2 second all red clearance phase just for this purpose.

[JohnN]

The roundabouts are fine. One lane roundabouts would cause too much traffic backup.
The problem is the crazy old people driving, you've got to watch every car around when you're in a roundabout.

[Garywt]

I have driven on rotaries my entire life but if you don’t drive them much it is tough. I stay in the right lane to go right or straight through and the left lane if I am going 3/4 around. The only time I change that is if there is a long line on the right lane and no one in the left as long as I don’t need to turn right.

[MSchad]

Originally Posted by John_W

If you did a search, there are probably 10 threads in past that are at least 80 posts each, it's the most discussed topic in history.

Here is a quick lesson, if you follow this you will be more than OK. Just think of a 2 lane roundabout as a 2 lane 4 way stop. If you were making a left turn you would be in the left land (inside lane 3rd exit) and if you were making a right turn you would in the right (outside lane 1st exit). If you were going straight you would be in either lane (2nd exit is straight). There is even a sign before every roundabout showing where each lane can go.





In this diagram, the yellow car at the bottom in the left lane, where can he proceed to? He can go straight using either lane, or go to the third exit using the left lane.

Wrong! It is in the left lane, so it can’t go straight using either lane. It must stay in the left lane through the roundabout and exit onto the left lane at exit.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by MSchad

Wrong! It is in the left lane, so it can’t go straight using either lane. It must stay in the left lane through the roundabout and exit onto the left lane at exit.

The left lane besides being able to go to the third exit, can also go straight, the second exit. I didn't mean they can zig-zag between lanes, I meant they could go straight in the left lane and a car in the right lane can also go straight (either lane). However, in the left lane you can also go to the third exit, but the car in the right lane has to exit at the 2nd exit, if they continued to the third exit they could be T-boned by the car in the left lane going to the second exit.

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

The law enforcement officer was conveying the correct way to make left turns at a signalized intersection.

When the light is a green ball or flashing yellow arrow, you absolutely are supposed to proceed beyond the stop bar (white line) into the intersection, keeping sight of the signal. There is no danger. The opposing traffic have red lights. The oncoming traffic proceeds until the light turns yellow. At that time, you prepare to make your left turn, of course after carefully watching that the approaching traffic is stopping. There is even a clearance phase, where all signals are red for a second or two after a change. Part of its purpose is specifically to allow left-turners to clear the intersection.

And this is very important...when you do as I described above, you are NOT making an illegal left turn on red. You are simply clearing the intersection. You entered into the intersection on green, which is perfectly legal. Completing your turn after the signal change is not only legal, it is the proper way to handle your turn.

Only because of the topic of this thread, I will state (as I've done in other such threads) that I have a Masters Degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of Florida and spent my entire career as a Professional Engineer in the State of Florida in the field of traffic engineering.

Please do your own homework and look up the proper way to handle left turns at a signalized intersection to verify what I've conveyed above.

Stay safe out there...both inside and outside your vehicle.

Different in NJ and PA. You don't cross the white line until you cam continue to complete the turn. If you are passed the white line when the light turns red you have gone through the red light. Many of us have the tickets and the lost appeals on that one. I have to assume, since folks come from all over they revert to behaviour from where they came.

[Art cov]

This thread reminds me of the city council meetings open to the public, or the hoa meetings. Everything brought up in the meetings nearly caused a riot. They were very entertaining! Sometimes dangerous!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

After getting over the terror that is "first-time experiencing two-lane roundabouts occupied by a lot of people who might need cataract surgery and younger reflexes" - I realized the fully two-lane roundabouts are entirely manageable as long as you pay attention. And as long as YOUR reflexes are better than the other guy's.

What IS a big problem - is the two-lane roundabouts that exit into one lane exits. Imagine the circle - north, south, east, west...

I'm coming FROM the south. Heading West. If it were a normal intersection it'd be a left turn. But it's not a normal intersection. It's a circle. By the time I get to that exit, it is now a right turn.

But I'm coming from the INSIDE lane, because that's the rule. If you are entering a 2-lane roundabout and you're wanting to go to the "third" exit, you have to enter into the inside lane.

And you now have to make a right turn, from the inside lane, into a single lane where people who are coming from the east, and from the north, also exit.

If you're coming from the south, you won't always even SEE someone heading toward that western exit, if they are coming from the north. Because you are entering while looking to your left. And to your left - is the western exit. You're not looking north. You're looking west. Entering from the south, going in a counter-clockwise position.

So that's where I think roundabouts are horribly flawed. Entering a two-lane roundabout with the intention of exiting into a one-lane exit 3/4 of the way around the circle.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Yes, but the blue car at the top SHOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER ENTERING THE RB until traffic in both lanes has cleared. He may intend to turn into the first exit in the outer lane, but the car in the RB already may have come from the first entrance to his left and intend to (legally) go straight to the same exit

This is ESPECIALLY true if that "left" exit only has one lane. Which is exactly what happens at the Morse circle's south exit near St. Timothy's Church.

[tsmall22204]

If directions are followed, they work well.

[mike1946]

I'm a Brit !! A word of advice to American drivers ... don't even think of hiring a car and driving in the UK !! We have 1000's of roundabouts of all shapes and sizes some with multi lanes - I think the one around Marble Arch is 5 lanes and there are a few more like that ....don't get me started on the magic roundabouts ...one in Swindon and one in Milton Keynes where you join the big one via a little one ...so you can go the wrong way round if you want to. Google it !! They are great fun. All this while driving on the 'correct' side of the road ...so remember to go clockwise around a roundabout not anti-clockwise. Seriously guys ...you will die !!

[Leadbone1]

Originally Posted by boxcarwilly

IMOP....too compact to be safe..drivers are more confused than a goat on astroturf. I treat all roundabouts like a single lane rotary and use a turn signal when exiting.

You know, it’s not rocket science but you would think it is. The lanes are clearly marked in the roundabouts on how they are to be used, but unfortunately there are way too many people that don’t get it. On two occasions I have had to lock my breaks up right in the middle of the circle because someone in the outside lane cut across right in front of me to continue around the circle as I was on the inside lane and going straight. And yes it’s a good idea to put a blinker on when you’re going to exit. Common sense and caution are definitely called for.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Regor

You're thinking like it's okay to take a right from the left lane is what causes accidents. The inner lane is not the "straight" lane. That would ONLY work if the right lane entering the roundabout HAD to take the first exit. They don't have to take the 1st exit.

Wrong! WRONG!! VERY VERY WRONG!!!

You can, and in some cases should, use the left/inner lane to go straight through a RB. It is posts like this one that leads to the belief that it's OK to enter a RB if the only traffic coming around is in the inner lane. WRONG! That's what leads to accidents. ALL traffic must pass before you can enter a RB.

[Hiltongrizz11]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Yes, but the blue car at the top SHOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER ENTERING THE RB until traffic in both lanes has cleared. He may intend to turn into the first exit in the outer lane, but the car in the RB already may have come from the first entrance to his left and intend to (legally) go straight to the same exit

WRONG! Nobody should stop