After 120 posts on this thread already, I thought I'd add my two cents worth. I follow 2 rules of thumb in dealing with roundabouts.
1) Vehicles already in the roundabout have the right of way. Respect this when entering and even after entering.
2) Do not pass or pull alongside other vehicles when traveling in the roundabout.

If people followed these principles I think accidents would be minimized. But I never drive with the expectation that other people will follow my rules or that they will use common sense. I am especially wary of what others are doing when I am in these roundabouts.

Overall I think they are great for maintaining traffic flow. Just my opinion.

Agree on all counts, zonerboy.

I was wrong!
 

CF and others posted that the dotted lines mean you are allowed to change lanes. Someone else (can't find the post) said it's the law.

Not only is that correct, you are also allowed to pass. Federal highway markings.

United States Pavement Markings - FHWA MUTCD

So while the brochure says don't change lanes and everybody says never get beside another vehicle, there's no law against either in sections of the roundabout where there's a broken line, which is 50-60% or so of the time in most roundabouts.

I'll be dipped.:22yikes:

I have found it works best to use the signs to determine which lane to use and forget whether the lines are solid or dashed within the RAB.

Yes, you are right. That's what you're supposed to do.

It wigs me out that federal laws allow lane change and passing across broken lines, while federally sponsored roundabout "best practices" instructional materials tell you not to ever do it.

To help understand. Wig Out
From the Urban dictionary..............
To suddenly become unnecessarily worried, anxious, upset, or paranoid most often while under the influence of an intoxicating substance--especially marijuana.

Sometimes refers to a more favorable drug-induced mood change such as suddenly experiencing uncontrollable laughter, though the term "geek out" is more appropriate in this case.


:wave:

Are you suggesting that there should be traffic lights at every rotary or are you suggesting a few with stop signs at several? If stop signs, how would one navigate a left turn, cross 4 lanes, 2 north and 2 south. Or, would one turn right and go to the next light and make a U turn. Of course there would have to be a left turning lane. This would make BV 6 lanes total. There are 13 roundabouts on BV from 466A to 466 and there would be a total of 15 traffic lights.

LOLOL!! this from the English Daily...
wig out
Definition:
To go crazy; lose your mind.

Example:
1) Maria wigged out when she found her husband in bed with her best friend.

Etymology :
The idea behind the term is that so much activity is going on in your brain that your hair ( a 'wig' is artificial hair ) might jump off your head. The term can be positive too - you might 'wig out' when you hear really good music, for example.

Hey Bogie, I'm almost done with this topic. Hoping to get data on roundabout accidents from Sumter S.O. on Monday and then ask for review from public works engineering dept.

You may be, how do you convince others to stop posting the same thing over and over??

BONANZA Any reply?

There usually is....................

Bogie, I think you are wigged out over the fact that we are discussing this. :loco:

You think YOU have problems with round-a-bouts? Check the Swindon round-a-bout in England. AND, you have to drive it on the left hand side of the road.

The Magic Roundabout - Swindon's white knuckle ride! SwindonWeb guide

This is the model being used for the new roundabout going into Fruitland Park Square, in case you missed it earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6-IWrzrCOY

We should bring the Mythbusters to a Villages roundabout.

4 Way Stop Vs Roundabout - Mythbusters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvoFjirrgYA

Yea, the roundabouts win, by a landslide.!!!

This one is no laughing matter. I was riding with a friend today who took the inside lane intending to take the left turn out of the roundabout. As we approached the 3rd exit, a yielding car, assuming we would stay in the left lane, crept across the solid line of the circle.

My friend suddenly sped up and crossed the right/outside lane staying ahead of the oncoming vehicle, in order to get in the resident lane.

Exactly what I described in the OP nearly caused an accident in which I could have been victim of a hit to the passenger side door.

My friend followed federal traffic rules, crossing broken lines. The other driver assumed that he had lawfully yielded, as we were nearly past him when our car swerved into the right lane.

The bottom line: For 3rd exit turns, the location of the Resident Gate in the outside lane invites drivers to change lanes perilously.

And no doubt the other driver probably got ticked because in his/her ignorance, he thought he did nothing wrong.

I've said my piece. Two-lane roundabouts in this area of 110,000 senior residents from all over the country, most of whom did not grow up navigating roundabouts, are a baaaaaaaaaaad idea.

Key words..............explains it all!

So for the sake of discussion, if you are in a position to yield and then move in behind a vehicle that totally stops or suddenly moves in front of you, who is at fault? My opinion, which I hahaha never share, is that yielding traffic is not absolutely accountable, such as when a vehicle makes a sudden stop or changes lanes too rapidly in front of you anywhere on any road.

IMO, a rapid, careless lane changer within the circle would likely be the culprit...you can enter the circle carefully while yielding to a vehicle on the inside lane. But if a quick stop causes a rear end collision, I doubt the quick-stopper would be found at fault.

Any time you run into the car in front of you, you are at fault--even if the car in front of you decides to slam on its breaks, for whatever reason. My friend was rear-ended by a woman who claimed my friend shouldn't have stopped in her lane because an emergency vehicle she stopped for was in another lane.

The cop said, "Lady, even if she stops to pick her nose and you run into her, you are at fault."

"My friend followed federal traffic rules, crossing broken lines."

It also has to be safe to cross the broken line. It this case it was not safe. Even though the other car should have waited longer to enter the roundabout, that does not make it correct to swerve in front of him.

<sarcasm on> I'm confident that within no more than 200 more posts, this problem will be completely solved ... for ever and ever. <sarcasm off>

Keep counting.
The sumter sheriff's office is pulling up data on 12 months of accident reports on BVB and Morse. Analyzing which accidents were at intersections with roundabouts will be the next step.

----------------

Actually that is not true. Exceptions have been found by courts.

Maybe on a freeway, but on a city street? That's a real question, not sarcasm. I wonder what the exceptions have been.

And then what?

No one is listening.

I suppose if you cut somebody off and they rear-ended you, that would be an exception.

Then, the data will be analyzed by an amateur, me, for inconsistencies in number of accidents per roundabout and a recommendation made to the Sumter Roads engineer, Jeff Davis, to determine whether review of the design, traffic flow, signage, public education, etc, is warranted to usher in possible improvements.

sheepish icon...we don't have one. I cut somebody off by changing lanes.
I was the car in front, but it was my fault. The LAW won and they were right.

This may not be as simple to analyze as it seems. For example, if one roundabout has had more accidents than another it does no necessarily mean that it is a more dangerous roundabout. It could simply be because that roundabout gets more traffic. The roundabout at the Lake Miona Rec Center for example, may have more accidents than the ones near it, but the accident rate per vehicle using that roundabout may be less.

:posting:

exactly, yes. that's the kind of thing for experts to figure out.

Bogie, Your post is #155. If there were an award for Most Persistent, you'd win.

:BigApplause:

I have to just quit looking................but it's like a car accident and I can't stop.

LOL. I hope to surprise you with actual information someday...
until then, sleep well, and check here in the morning.