Question for LEO's about round abouts.

[femurphy77]

I actually have grown fond of the roundabout as long as folks use it properly.

And therein lies the problem; I don't know how many times I've approached one of the local versions to see people IN the rab STOPPING to let people entering it to proceed, or the ones that think if they can slip in front of you with an inch or two to spare are o.k. or. . . . . . . .or. . . . . . . .or. . . . . . .

 

[hoosierdoc]

I did a 450 yesterday. The road was closed up a bit from where I wanted to exit and I zipped back into the roundabout. I wondered the same thing about legality as I turned out, and my said I made her dizzy and nauseous. At least she was in the car.

 

[Scutter01]

There are apparently turn signal laws where you're supposed to signal left or right depending on which exit you're planning to take. It's not in the IN driver's manual, though. I dug through the IC and found a snippet of code once, but I've never been able to find it since so I don't know if it was repealed. Carmel, et. al. certainly didn't go out of their way to educate drivers before converting all of their intersections to roundabouts.

 

[jagee]

How is this thread complete without a little vacation?

[video=youtube;iAgX6qlJEMc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgX6qlJEMc&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

 

[KLB]

I think the crux of the issue with roundabouts is many people just do not know what to do at a Yield sign.

They also do not know that you don't have to yield to the circle when you are in the right lane that goes directly into the next street to the right.

 

[T.Lex]

In Carmel - Roundabout Capital of America - there isn't an ordinance limiting how many turns you can make. At least not as of a couple years ago. There was talk of trying to mandate the turn-signal thing, but people figured it would just make it more confusing. It is supposed to be intuitive. (Purple as necessary.)

Plus, the idea is that people should freeze a bit before entering to make sure traffic isn't coming from the left. If people in the RAB use turn signals, the people entering might get the wrong idea and jump in. Better to have them just wait and see to avoid a collision. It gets even trickier in the multi-lane RABs where someone might signal a lane change to get out at the right point.

Edit:

They also do not know that you don't have to yield to the circle when you are in the right lane that goes directly into the next street to the right.

That's not completely true - at least not for most of the RABs in Carmel. If there is a "dedicated" right-turn lane that bypasses the actual RAB, that might work. But, traffic entering the RAB should ALWAYS yield to traffic in the RAB, regardless what lane you are in.

And yeah, I get that you sometimes need to gun it in heavy traffic to get a spot. But, usually, a "long" wait at a RAB is less than an average wait at a light. Or stopsign.

 

[Dead Duck]

I know they don't like it when you "Drift" the circle.

 

[KLB]

In Carmel - Roundabout Capital of America - there isn't an ordinance limiting how many turns you can make. At least not as of a couple years ago. There was talk of trying to mandate the turn-signal thing, but people figured it would just make it more confusing. It is supposed to be intuitive. (Purple as necessary.)

Plus, the idea is that people should freeze a bit before entering to make sure traffic isn't coming from the left. If people in the RAB use turn signals, the people entering might get the wrong idea and jump in. Better to have them just wait and see to avoid a collision. It gets even trickier in the multi-lane RABs where someone might signal a lane change to get out at the right point.

Edit:

That's not completely true - at least not for most of the RABs in Carmel. If there is a "dedicated" right-turn lane that bypasses the actual RAB, that might work. But, traffic entering the RAB should ALWAYS yield to traffic in the RAB, regardless what lane you are in.

And yeah, I get that you sometimes need to gun it in heavy traffic to get a spot. But, usually, a "long" wait at a RAB is less than an average wait at a light. Or stopsign.

In Valpo there is a dedicated lane to go into the roundabout and another that merges directly into the next street to the right. You cannot get into the roundabout from the lane. There is no reason you would yield to traffic in the roundabout.

Since I apparently wasn't clear in my description

 

[T.Lex]

Interesting - that's different than most of the RABs in Carmel. Looks like a big footprint. But, I see now what you mean.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I used to have to take the full size bus through several of them, so I got real good at it. I've seen some wacky things from people that didn't know how they work, but that's settled down a lot. The best one was way back when the first few went in, I came up to one. A little old grandma looking between the steering wheel & dashboard came in to my right. She wanted to turn left, so she... did. I just held still until she was safe.

 

[SmileDocHill]

The learning curve for roundabouts has been much better than 4 way stop signs. People still can't figure them out and they've been around for how long?

The instructions for roundabouts are posted prior to entering each one but yes it is a little confusing in that they are not all the same depending on the size of the two roads that intersect. That said...LOVE THEM! Much more efficient.

 

[remauto1187]

THis is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy".......ahhh Christie Brinkley.

 

[Bigtanker]

They have one off of I-94 in Mattawan, MI that is part of the exit ramp. I did go around it twice late one night...... in my big rig (34 wheeler). Tricky to say the least.

 

[SmileDocHill]

wow, do a google image search for "most complicated roundabout"

We've got it pretty easy here among the corn.

 

[Bigtanker]

You are right Doc. This is in England.

Here are the instructions.

 

[jagee]

Is it like a bunch of little roundabouts within one big one?

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Is it like a bunch of little roundabouts within one big one?

Here we see the reproductive cycle of the roundabout. New ones are born under the protection of their mother, and learn the life of the roundabout before she lets them out into the wild to control their own intersections.

 

[HoughMade]

I really, really, REALLY wanted to take the horse trailer through the 3 consecutive roundabouts on 400 N in Valpo last night on the way home from the fairgrounds, but my daughter claimed the horses would get sick.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

The first roundabout I ever saw was in Engadine, Australia (suburb of Sidney) in 2000. I asked the girl I was with (who was driving) how they know who has the right of way, since there were no yield signs or anything indicating right of way, and she just said, "It's whoever is bravest."

 

[HoughMade]

If you have to stop more than about 5% of the time at a roundabout, you (or the idiot in front of you) are doing it wrong.