Exiting across a lane from the center lane is a hard habbit to learn. Oh, the other short rule is “if you entered in a lane, you exit in that lane.” I see too many people enter a roundabout in the inside lane and take the outside lane of the second exit. This was troubling to me at the time because I was in that outside lane beside this person the whole time–we entered nex to each other and we would have exited next to each other. I had to slam on the breaks to avoid a collision.
Yes, they are going the wrong way in a one way. At that intersection, the two way roads split into two one way lanes. All you need to do when you approach the intersection is stay in your lane. At no point do you need to change lanes. It’s in the US, so stay in the right lane. There should have been a sign where the median began facing outwards saying “One way, do not enter!”
Yea, that’s the part I didn’t understand… who would ever think they should go into the left lane at that divider? Turning left into the circle from the right lane would make more sense… not a lot more, but an honest mistake, where as going into opposing traffic lane is the last conclusion you should (and possibly would) ever come to…
I used to live near this one in England; the red circles are traffic lights. There were no traffic lights on it when I lived there, and I don’t recall it ever being a problem either for drivers or for pedestrians.
Having driven through the Magic Roundabout, it’s really not that simple. The traffic in the center traveling in the opposite direction can really throw you off.
I never mastered it. I’d stick to the outer ones as you suggest and follow the chain around. But I was envious of the people who zipped around, picked up the inside in the opposite direction, and popped out on the opposite roundabout while I was still making my way around the second circle.
This is only the case where there is a very roughly equal amount of traffic from all directions and not a constant stream of traffic from one direction almost exclusively. In that case you can arrive from the minor road and if the traffic on the major road is constant it can be very hard to get out. This is often why they end up putting traffic lights in.
Wrong.
If everyone is doing it right you can turn as follows (I’m gonna have to reverse my normal instructions, as I drive on the left), including the changing lanes scenarioi:
Assuming a single lane approach with a dual lane on roundabout except where stated
right (first exit) - stay in right lane. Always
straight over (second exit) stay in right lane - but in a two lane approach there will be a two lane roundabout so you can approach in the left hand lane and use the LH lane on the roundabout and you exit in the left hand lane on the exit road. The exit road should have two lanes or if it is quickly a single lane road there should be width enough to merge with the right lane as you exit the roundabout. Always indicate right after you pass first exit. If going across in the right lane do not be the dickhead who objects to someone going straight across in the left lane, if they are forced to merge. If in the left lane, do not be the dickhead who carves up someone going straight across in the right lane if forced to merge.
So far - yes, stay in lane. Now it gets interesting
turning left (third or later exit - yes some roundabouts have 5 or 6 roads converging). You always approach in the left hand lane if it’s a two lane approach. Go into the left hand lane on the roundabout (even if you enter from a single lane approach road). Indicate right ONLY after you have passed the exit before the one you plan to exit via - and at or after that exit you can (should!) move across from left lane to right lane so you are in the RH lane - the outer lane - at your exit.
For roundabouts with a 5th, 6th or even 7th exit (they exist) there is LOTS of on-roundabout lane crossing.
That’s when you change lanes on a roundabout. Here in UK our mother’s milk imbues us with the ability to adopt the same principles and enter in any of 4 approach lanes, navigate around a roundabout that also has four lanes and cross all of the lanes as needed, all without thinking. (Lots of lane and exit markings also helps!) And such large ones usually have entry traffic lights, too.
Think of the lanes less as concentric circles and more as outward expanding spirals which deploy centripetal force to spin you out at your desired exit.
Oh Jeez - when the video first started, my initial reaction was, “Wait, there must be some mistake - that’s obviously from the UK, as everyone’s driving on the left side of the road.” It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Whoo boy, that’s bad.
Yeah, but on the other hand, I’m not sure how much that would help, given that even before they got to the roundabout, people started driving on the wrong side of the road. This is going to be an ongoing hazard, clearly.
There’s also very little traffic and no traffic from some directions during much of the 47 seconds of that video. (If you can measure the traffic safety in accidents per minute, you have some serious, serious problems.) Once you actually had some traffic, at best the roads would quickly become gridlocked with vehicles traveling in opposite directions on the same road (with no way of going around each other). If no one can move, I suppose that would also prevent accidents, though…
At first in that film I thought that it was shot in the UK because of all the people driving on the left. Of course DC has some strangely shaped “circles” including “Dave Thomas Circle” which is a triangle with a Wendy’s in the middle Redirect Notice
While I agree with you that’s how it’s done in the UK (also Ireland, IIRC), that’s not how it’s done in the US. Believe it or not, for the third (and latter) exits you turn directly from the inner lane across the outer lane and into the outer lane of the exit.
I’ve driven in both systems and I do prefer the UK variant, but this is just how it is here.
Then it’s no wonder USians don’t get roundabouts and that they cause confusion and accidents.
Editing to add my US roundabout story…
Had a prang in S.Carolina once in a rental. Tow guy very red of neck and taciturn. I try to spark up some conversation. Mention how there’s no roundabouts there, just lots of traffic lights. Silence for a long pause…
“You mean traffic circles”
Yes.
“Well I reckon the problem with those is that unless an American is told to stop, he won’t - he figures he has the God-given constitutional freedom to drive where he likes. Traffic circles won’t work without STOP signs and red lights”
I get what you’re saying, but I’ve seen gridlock because cars are unable to get into the circle. Traffic on lanes leading in could be backed up for a mile. It happened a lot when there were multiple major arteries joined that way. So much traffic was coming in from the larger routes, that there was little opportunity for cars coming from the “lesser” routes. A lot of accidents due to failure to yield, etc. led to those circles being broken up into a series of lights with jug handles and turn lanes to better control the flow of traffic during peak hours.
That’s gridlock leading to the roundabout. As per my earlier post, this is when you need timed traffic lights on the entrance to the roundabout - when traffic flow is so dense on one entrance and so sparse on the entrance before it.
Roundabouts that do risk gridlock on them (often traffic lit roundabouts) over here tend to have ‘do not enter unless exit clear’ hatched boxes at exits.
As below: (bear in mind this is a drive on the left roundabout)
At the point where it’s a problem for all routes leading in, they get broken up completely. There are just too many accidents caused by drivers in that scenario. It’s expensive, and time-consuming, but traffic flows much better after the work is done.
ETA: Found this list of NJ circles, which has some interesting historical notes. Due to high population density, gridlock is an ongoing challenge for drivers and transportation officials in the Garden State.
Damn things are death traps for cyclists. I don’t mind driving them, but cycling through a 3 lane is not for the faint hearted. Almost every one near me has had at least 1 cyclist fatality on it.
“Call it morning driving thru the sound and in and out the wrong lanes” 
