palimpsest

For years I have gone out of my way to avoid roundabouts. They were just too intimidating. For those of you who had no issue, congrats. I just never felt like I knew what to do. I watched videos of how they worked but everyone knew what they were doing in the video, so the process worked like a well-choreographed dance. I simply imagined disaster.

Two years ago, word came out that a roundabout was being installed at a busy intersection up the street from my house. My immediate response was that I would drive a couple miles extra each day to avoid it. As time went by the area was under construction but still made for easy travel. Then they started shifting lanes around until one day it was there, a roundabout in all its awkward splendor.

On my way out of the area there was a dedicated lane that steered me away from the circle, but coming home was another story. I went out of my way a few times, but it was a lot to accept, an extra five minutes a day. That adds up. One day, I decided to give it a shot. My insurance was all paid up and I was feeling lucky. One branch of the road had not opened yet so all I had to do was pay attention to traffic from my left and there you go, I was through. Not too bad at all. Then I made the choice one day to approach the circle from the interstate side where the off ramp of the interstate dipped into a main road approach.

As I came down the ramp off the interstate, I could see ahead that traffic was backed up. As I got to the end of the ramp it was mayhem. Looking down to the circle revealed no traffic was moving and the backup was in all three open branches. Someone decided to stop in the circle and most drivers just piled in behind those in front of them leaving no room at all. Luckily, I was able to use a lane that veered right at the circle taking me on a five-mile trip to get around the mess. This was not very encouraging to someone who already had a negative impression of roundabouts.

In looking at the cause of the backup it was apparent that the county had not factored the timing of games at the sport center up the road considering rush hour traffic. Way too much traffic fed into the circle and rendered it ineffective. It did not help that someone stopped in the circle either. I gave it another shot the next day, and it was okay. After several months, the last road coming off the circle opened up. This presented an even faster way to come home and after several days it got to be routine, even at rush hour.

My takeaway from using the roundabout daily was that you have only two rules in a roundabout. Always yield to the left and make sure the person in front of you has gotten out of your way before you gun the engine. That is it, there are no other rules. Unfortunately, many appear to be pulling out a slide rule to gauge whether they have time to enter the roundabout. I have witnessed so many epic failures on my daily trips through the circle. This has resulted in a strong opinion that this challenge needs to become a thirty minute portion of every driving education course.

Many know what I am referring to. You approach the roundabout with one car in front of you. No one is in the circle, in fact there are no cars anywhere else to be seen. Yet, the driver in front of you stops at the yield sign and waits patiently for……….what I do not know. These are the drivers that give the roundabout a bad name. Yield does not mean stop and wait for nothing to happen. This knowledge eludes many. It’s like they sit there just knowing that someone is going to come around the circle at ninety miles an hour and slam into them.

Then, you have the drivers who see you coming around the circle when they are approaching the yield sign but decide to punch it instead of allowing you to pass through. Many of these require braking to avoid a collision. Yield means speed up to these hazards on wheels. The last and worst of all are the courteous drivers. You see them at the yield sign to your left as you approach the roundabout and they clearly have plenty of time to enter and pass, but instead they just sit there. You slow down because they have the right of way and therefore should enter before you. I have gotten to the point where when I see one of these “nice” people waving me on I gauge the situation and usually do not stop. Even worse yet are the “safe” drivers who stop in the circle to let someone who does not have the right of way enter the circle. These are the drivers who can create instant congestion.

After using the roundabout for more than a year I have come to the conclusion that for the most part they are a better solution to a four-way stop. No one knows what the protocol for right of way is at a four way stop, and it often presents a dangerous situation. At least with the roundabout, traffic continues to move. I now realize my fear of the roundabout was unfounded but then I see a video of the three and four lane circles and I’m baffled, for now, at how that can work.