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Name: DerbyDad03
Would you use your blinkers in these situations?
1 - You are on a 2 lane, one-way street which ends at a T into a 2 lane, one way street. In other words, the only thing you can do is turn onto the other one way street from either lane.
Do you use your blinkers? Who are you telling that you are turning other than the car behind you, who knows that you only have one option?
2 - You are approaching a Roundabout, similar to the one shown here.
Assume you are entering the Roundabout from the lower right corner and immediately exiting the roundabout at the first exit (the exit the red van has just past). In other words, it will basically be one continuous turn as you enter the roundabout and then exit.
Would you use your blinkers, and if so, when - prior to entering the roundabout (would the driver behind you really know why you are blinking?) or after entering the roundabout, by which time you are already exiting?
1. I'm kinda paranoid about signal lights (blinkers) so yeah, probably. The car behind me may not know that it's a one-way turn. Seen so many people that don't use them when they obviously should...
2. Roundabouts are a little more common in the UK than here in the US. I'd probably be going round and round until I threw up in the car---but to answer your question, since the only choice is a right turn, then probably not...
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I say this in the nicest manner possible:
You're contradicting yourself! <g>
In Situation 1 (the T) you said you would use your blinkers, but in situation 2 (the Roundabout) you said you wouldn't since the only choice is a right turn.
However, at the T there is also only 1 choice, since you're turning onto a one way street.
Granted, there's a difference between a legal choice and physical choice, but in both cases the choices are the same: physically a driver could turn either way, but legally there's only one choice in both cases.
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I'm wondering if THIS is what prompted you to ask the question? In any case I'm glad I don't have any friends or family members living in Dublin, Ohio. Otherwise I will have to test your theory about using blinkers on the roundabouts.
i_Xp/VistaUser
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On second thought does Ohio Drivers License manual explain how to safely navigate the roundabouts?
i_Xp/VistaUser
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What prompted the questions is that I experience both of these situations every day.
The T situation occurs on the way to work, and the roundabout question occurs on the way home.
The roundabout is brand new, still under construction, in fact.
They are replacing a perfectly straight section of a 4 lane divided highway that has 4 traffic-signal controlled intersections with a 2 lane divided and curved-filled park-like roadway with a small roundabout at each intersection.
The idea is to eliminate the drag racing that often occured beween the traffic signals and has caused many serious accidents over the years. The speed limit has been reduced and the curving entrances to the roundabouts, as well as the roundabouts themselves, force drivers to slow down or even stop. That, and the added fact that each side is now a single lane, will eliminate the drag racing completely.
Anyway, I use one of these roundabouts to enter my neighborhood, exiting it as soon as I enter it as described earlier. Every time I blink (since I'm making a right) I always wonder if the guy behind me is thinking "Why is this idiot blinking before entering a roundabout...oh, that's why!"
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XpUser: On second thought does Ohio Drivers License manual explain how to safely navigate the roundabouts?
Nope. Nor did I see anything about roundabouts in my traffic laws digest.
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If there's no one else around, do you stop at stop signs or traffic signals? Do you normally signal for turns even if there's no one there to see it?
I work for NYSDOT...see page 8:
https://www.nysdot.gov/main/roundabouts/files/roundabbrochure.pdf
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This video supposedly explains how to use your indicators in a roundabout. Obviously the rules would have to be adapted for US driving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaqc...
What interesting is that towards the end where they have actual video of cars using roundabouts, it looks like less than half of the drivers use their blinkers at all and many that do don't seem to follow the rules laid out at the beginning of the video.
Bottom line is that if this video is correct, then I should be using my right turn blinker before I enter the roundabout, since I am exiting to the right, which is what I have been doing (most of the time) anyway.
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1) I would use my signal, it's the law
2) See my answer to #1
Mostly I'd signal because it's a habit to signal if I'm turning or changing lanes. I rarely forget.
We don't use turn signals for ourselves, we use them to alert other drivers as to what we are planning on doing. If every driver on the road used them every time they were supposed to, the world would be a much safer place for all drivers.
Yes, you could argue that it's moot in scenario #1 but I supsect people who tend to have good driving habits, like myself, will because you're supposed to signal your intent....regardless of whether you have any other choice or not. I also suspect people who don't have good driving habits will fail to signal at other times when it's not moot and it can be a problem.
I've had more than enough experience with roundabouts to know everybody should always use their turn signals on them and even if everybody did, it still wouldn't prevent all accidents because some people just seem to completely lose their minds on roundabouts.
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Jam:
Thanks for the link to the Roundabout Brochure.
Regarding the wording on page 8:
Exiting the Roundabout
• Once you have entered the roundabout, proceed counter-clockwise to your exit. You now have the right-of-way.
• As you approach your exit, turn on your right turn signal.When considering a roundabout like the one pictured at the link in my OP (this one) when would you say I was "approaching my exit"?
Since the exit is less than a car length from the entrance, should I be signaling before I even enter the roundabout or immediately afterward, by which time I am already exiting?
BTW...What was the point of your questions about what people do when no one is around? Were they supposed to relate to this discussion somehow?
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From the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
A video on everything you always wanted to know about navigating a roundabout.http://www.morpc.org/transportation...
One is a two minutes abbreviated version, the other is an 8 minute full length version.
You call'em roundabouts, I call them rotaries.
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You call'em roundabouts, I call them rotaries.
Roundabouts & rotaries (circles) are different traffic patterns. According to Wikipedia:
Roundabouts require entering drivers to give way to all traffic within the roundabout. regardless of lane position, while rotaries and traffic circles typically allow traffic to enter alongside traffic circulating in an inner lane without consequence.
DerbyDad03,
Would you accept the above explanation as the logic answer to your question (no blinkers needed).
i_Xp/VistaUser
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"...when would you say I was "approaching my exit"?"
At least 100' before the exit (turn) you intend to take.
Skip
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re: At least 100' before the exit...
So, in the case of the roundabout near my house, I should turn my signal on before entering the roundabout since there is less than 100' from where I would enter to where I would exit.
The wording in the pdf that Jam provided seems to assume that you are already in the roundabout before you would be approaching your exit, but it's obvious that there are cases where you could be outside the roundabout but still need to signal your intention to exit.
Now, the guy behind you might not know what you are signaling for (he might think you are signalling the right hand "turn" that takes you into the roundabout), but at least you got his attention. I guess that falls under the "better safe than sorry" catagory.
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XpUser
Wikipidea:
while rotaries and traffic circles typically allow traffic to enter alongside traffic circulating in an inner lane without consequence.
Sorry, you would get a ticket in my state:
M.G.L. Chapter 89, Section 8
"Any operator of a vehicle entering a rotary intersection shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle already in the intersection."
That being said, doing rotary/roundabout traffic at rush hour, and it's every man for himself. :-)
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Why would you get a ticket for entering alongside traffic circulating in an inner lane if you didn't impede their right of way?
Traffic travelling in the left lane of any road has the right of way over someone entering that road, but that doesn't mean you can't turn right into the right lane alongside that car.
As long as you don't impede the other driver's right of way there is no offense.
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"...and it's every man for himself."
Mexico City Mike.
Hell Derby, just drive all the way around the circle then follow the 100' rule.
Skip
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SkipCox:
Haven't had the pleasure of driving in Mexico City, but was in Seattle Washington last year and while driving down a narrow residential street, going downhill, there was the smallest roundabout/rotary I've ever seen. Strange.
DerbyDad03
Why would you get a ticket for entering alongside traffic circulating in an inner lane if you didn't impede their right of way?
Because Chapter 89, Section 8 says you must yield.
Besides, I don't think I've ever seen a multi lane rotary in the state.
Which is not to say that some of the roatries aren't wide enough to have multi lanes, just never seen one marked out as multi lane.
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As XpUser pointed out, a roundabout is different than a traffic circle. To explain some more differences, a roundabout has a much smaller diameter than a traffic circle. The center portion has what's called a mountable curb & usually some sort of faux brick work (it's actually colored concrete with a stamped brick pattern placed over an asphalt base). The center is deliberately made to be transversable by large trucks & emergency vehicles that can't make the tight turns.
Normally you enter the roundabout then signal to exit, but in the case of an almost immediate right turn, you should signal beforehand, just as you would when approaching a normal intersection.
If you wanna see something really goofy, we just completed the only double roundabout in NY. It's known locally as "the peanut". I don't have access to any pics right now, but I can post some tomorrow.
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@DerbyDad03
"However, at the T there is also only 1 choice, since you're turning onto a one way street."
You mean you've never turned the wrong way on a one-way street before? ;)
Maybe I should have said ' "physically" there's only 1 choice in the roundabout' (though I guess you could drive onto the island [into the small trees] or run it clockwise...) :)
"The idea is to eliminate the drag racing that often occured beween the traffic signals and has caused many serious accidents over the years."
Actually, given the situation that occurred close to where I used to work a few years ago (described in link below), I'm all for stopping drag racing...
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re: "Any operator of a vehicle entering a rotary intersection shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle already in the intersection."
What does it mean - to you - to yield the right-of-way to a vehicle in the innermost lane of a multilane rotary?
If you are entering a multilane rotary and turn into the outermost lane alongside a vehicle in the innermost lane, how have you denied him his right of way?
Remember, you stated that in your state the driver would get a ticket if they did what the Wiki definition of a rotary allows. I'd never defend a Wiki definition without further proof, and I agree that drivers entering a rotary/roundabout/traffic circle must yield the right of way to vehicles all ready in the intersection, but I still don't see the offense of a driver entering into the outermost lane alongside a vehicle in the innermost lane.
Where has the right-of-way been denied?
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Answer to question # 1 Yes... I always assume that the sorry ... behind me has not had a clue since birth. I have seen many drivers prove me right on this.
Answer to question # 2 Again Yes. I don't pay much attention to the 100 ft. rule as I normaly turn on my blinker before then anyway. Learning to drive on 2 lane rural highways in the south has taught me that when traveling well in excess of the posted speed limit it is a good idea to give warning as soon as possible. At 110mph + 100 ft. is not nearly enough.
Also I am the guy you run up on on the interstate in the right lane doing the speed limit with his left blinker on for hours at a time. I have noticed it sometimes causes those maniacs that have to drive in the right lane at a high rate of speed to at least briefly slow down. That being said I would probably turn on my right blinker before entering the roundabout and the proceed around to the left completing the circle a few times just to see if I could tick someone off.
Yes I am a jerk behind the wheel but hey I haven't gotten drunk and killed someone on the highway and then cried about my sorry life that drove me to booze to get a lousy 6 month sentence.
LikelyI want to go like my grandfather did. Peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming at the top of my lungs like the passengers in his car.
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re: At least 100' before the exit (turn) you intend to take.
My standard practice for using my turn signals on "normal" streets and highways is to turn my signal on prior to the point where I need to apply the brakes for the turn.
One of the things that annoys me the most are drivers who apply their brakes well before a turn, slow to turning speed and then indicate their intention to turn.
Tell me why you are braking before you brake, I'll take my foot off the gas if need be and we can remain friends. Brake for no apparent reason (as far as I know) and you are now an idiot in my book.
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DerbyDad03:
If you are entering a multilane rotary and turn into the outermost lane alongside a vehicle in the innermost lane, how have you denied him his right of way?I agree with your sentiment, but I have not seen rotaries in my area that are actually marked with lane markers.
With no actual lane markers, the whole rotary becomes a single lane.
If you enter the rotary alongside another car in a single lane, even if there is enough room for you and a tractor trailer, are you yeilding the right of way?
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"One of the things that annoys me the most are drivers who apply their brakes well before a turn, slow to turning speed and then indicate their intention to turn."
@DerbyDad03
Agreed. It's dangerous when drivers slow down to a crawl especially when there are no other cars causing the slowdown in the roundabout. It reminds me of drivers who yield when entering a highway when they have a dedicated and protected entrance lane.
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1) If I didn't know the area I would signal, if I did I wouldn't bother
2) Signal right before entering the roundabout. This is pretty standard in the UK (and you would probably fail your test if you didn't). Of course, our roundabouts go the other way around but the principle is the same.
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Please tell me this is going into "driving habits that annoy me," 'cause I have a rant or two about slow people in the fast lane, and people with cell phones.
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re: If you enter the rotary alongside another car in a single lane, even if there is enough room for you and a tractor trailer, are you yeilding the right of way?
Of course not. Any rotary (or road) without lane markers is a single lane, regardless of how wide it is.
I'm not sure why you are asking that question.
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I would use my turn signal in both instances, And signal BEFORE I apply the brakes. Always have...probably always will.
LIR
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Brakes????
LikelyI want to go like my grandfather did. Peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming at the top of my lungs like the passengers in his car.
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"Please tell me this is going into "driving habits that annoy me," 'cause I have a rant or two about slow people in the fast lane, and people with cell phones."
Oh Razor don't get me started. I hold those morons with their cell phones right up there with drunk drivers. I am beginning to wonder why we have to pass a test to be able to drive. It is apparent the testing is inadequate.
LikelyI want to go like my grandfather did. Peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming at the top of my lungs like the passengers in his car.
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re: I am beginning to wonder why we have to pass a test to
be able to drive.You are so right. As soon as I get on this highway I'm gonna
log off of this website and send an email to the DMV.This BlackBerry is so convenient!
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