How to use a roundabout

[TomK]

geochem - what can I say? I'm an optimist, have always been one, sometimes unrealistically so!

[ericlp]

Yep, so I follow another idiot into the roundabout stopping at the yield ... No biggie... Even tho no one was coming. So he/she whoever it was goes, finally. So, I jump in behind he or she just to brake as they stop in the inside to try to let someone in, I lay on the horn...... Giddy up, the person didn't seem all that happy, but maybe they will learn? Dunno, is it ok to honk at fools stopping in the round-about?

I think there should be a cop, to manage the round-about for a few months. Give out warnings at first, if caught again book'em...

[Midnight Rambler]

FWIW Tom, in New Zealand where roundabouts are similarly common, I never saw anyone signal that they were staying in, and only infrequently to indicate they were getting out. It would certainly help, especially for Americans not familiar with them. You catch on quickly when they're everywhere though, and it frustrates me to no end how many people here can't seem to figure it out even when they go through one every day.

[TomK]

Thanks, Midnight, I'm sure the rules are different everywhere. I haven't been to New Zealand (it's on my bucket list!) so can't really comment on how things work there.

In the UK the rules are likely driven by the fact that many roundabouts have multiple lanes (sometimes as many as five or six) and in many cases two lanes can be used to take a particular exit, but one of those two (the inner one) can be used to continue on the roundabout. The need to signal helps those on the roundabout and those entering. For a single lane roundabout it's not so important, but still helps those entering plan the next few seconds, e.g., do I slow down to time my entry or do I need to come to a stop?

Probably not going to happen here unfortunately...

[PaulW]

The Kiwis do advise to use that signal, except not in the case where you're driving straight through:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadc...undabouts/

I think it's easier to just do the same no matter which exit you're taking - signal left until you signal right for the next exit.

[TomK]

Paul - the Kiwi instructions are pretty much identical to the UK using the link you provided (thanks). If you're going straight on, you don't signal when approaching the roundabout, but signal your intention to take an exit once you've passed the last exit before yours.

I think your idea is fine unless it's a small roundabout where oncoming drivers will see you indicate and assume you plan to drive right round rather than heading straight on.

[TomK]

ericlp - hoping you can put my mind to rest. Was the driver you described driving a newish white Ford Fusion? The diver of that vehicle very nearly caused a major accident on H-11 this evening in one of the most stupid and reckless pieces of driving I have ever seen. Horns were used, quite properly.

Just wondering if they survived the drive to Pahoa if that's where they were heading. Thanks.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Here's a video showing how a single car can back up traffic. No matter how many people learn to use the roundabout properly, all it takes is one driver who stops for no reason. The other day there were no apparent problems, yet the cars in the Keaau direction were backed up almost 1/2 mile. I had just come through the roundabout and traffic there was light.

http://digg.com/video/traffic-jam-phanto...le-car-how

Oscar Wilde's Last Words: "Either this wallpaper goes, or I do."

[kalakoa]

all it takes is one driver who stops for no reason

...which problem isn't roundabout-specific, more a symptom of "one lane in/one lane out" (because "the country").

[TomK]

HOTPE,

Thanks for the video, it shows a perfect example of "the physics of traffic jams" (google it) which can be explained using the science of waves. I believe it demonstrates the reason traffic now backs up regularly after the merge on H-130 which never used to happen in that area. This is my reasoning:

The merge concentrates traffic which means cars are much closer to each other afterwards (compared to before). This slows traffic enough that we now have people slow down or even stop on the highway to allow other drivers entering from side streets to turn left. That means the other drivers behind this person have to slow and the wave gets transmitted all the way back to the merge.

I've seen many drivers on H-130 do exactly this and dread to think what this will do to the traffic behind me. One driver's show of aloha to another ends up inconveniencing hundreds of others.

The same used to happen when the merge was in Keaau, but was not as bad as there were far fewer people entering H-130 after the merge.