Roundabouts are new…or are they?
Change is always within us. If you’re able to be flexible you can accept change fairly easily. We change our appearance, style and possessions quite often. How well do you accept change? Our traffic patterns have often changed throughout the years and the vehicles we drive definitely change every few years. These changes are often received with open arms by drivers, but there are changes that some drivers have a difficult time accepting. Major roadway changes are difficult for many drivers to accept. This may include higher speed limits, more lanes, and traffic lights. And now, traffic circles and roundabouts are popping up where traffic light intersections used to be. Are you open minded enough to accept these changes?
Year after year across our land we’re seeing more roundabouts popping up at intersections as opposed to seeing traffic lights. Some drivers are excited about this while other drivers are quite upset. There may even be those who are sitting on the fence – not sure whether they like it or not. Perhaps they are an open minded sceptic – sceptical that it will work but open minded enough to listen and watch. Which are you? Roundabouts were first constructed in North America over 100 years ago and in Europe in the 1800’s in the form of traffic circles.
Roundabouts are quite safe if used correctly. The basic rules, which are usually signed at each opening at the roundabout, means you shouldn’t drive beside another road user when you enter. Let the driver pass before you enter. Choose the correct lane before you reach the roundabout as lane changes are prohibited and dangerous while in the roundabout. Signs are quite visible before you reach the roundabout that can help you make that choice. This usually means that drivers can enter a multilane roundabout with space on their sides. This can make their exit onto the new road much easier.
There’s actually less waiting for openings while leaving the roundabouts compared to waiting at a traffic light. The most dangerous thing most drivers do is make a left turn at a traffic light. This can be avoided at roundabouts. At worst case, if there is a collision, it’s at a lower speed since drivers will have to reduce speed before entering the roundabout. Since it’s rare for vehicles to stop at a roundabout, it helps to keep traffic moving along and avoid delays.
Signalling to leave the roundabout is always a good idea so to let the driver who wants to enter the roundabout know you’re leaving so they can take their turn at entering. By the way, a right turn signal is required as you’re steering to the right when you’re leaving. A left turn signal only confuses drivers even more.
As with any intersection, keep an eye out for pedestrians as you approach the roundabout and as you approach your exit. Pedestrians should wait for a gap before crossing the road at the roundabout. There are no walk symbols and lights at a roundabout, so ensure you walk when safe to do so if you’re a pedestrian.
Like anything else, you’ll need to stay patient and learn to get used to the changes a roundabout brings to your community. And the more we change, the more we stay the same.
*Have a quick listen to this short episode of the “Speed Bumps” podcast as we discuss roundabouts further!
Having come from the UK I love roundabouts and I’m very pleased to see them proliferating in Ontario. I’m also very pleased that they are implemented with a yield to the left rule unlike the bizarre way they do it in France which results in instant gridlock because no-one can get off the darn thing. I’ll even accept the Ottawa modification where motorists stop for pedestrians though I think it is always dangerous to have vehicles stopping on the roundabout (often very suddenly because they were looking for cars initially and then as they are exiting the roundabout suddenly become aware of pedestrians). I do, however, still use my indicators to make things easier for other motorists to predict my trajectory even though it’s not a requirement in Ottawa. I don’t indicate left on the approach to a roundabout (even though a Brit would understand the indication) however if I’m going beyond the second exit, I indicate left after entering the roundabout to show that I intend to stay on the roundabout and that doesn’t seem to cause any confusion.
Roundabouts are safer than traffic lights and only delay traffic when flow is significantly unbalanced. In the UK the latter is addressed by peak-time-only traffic lights. Also the traffic lights are badly programmed here in Ottawa (the UK would grind to a halt if they used the Ottawa approach) so roundabouts save many hours per year from peoples’ lives. If the walk period has already expired prior to a vehicle triggering a traffic light sensor, the flashing hand period should start immediately but in Ottawa it seems that the sensor gets sampled at the end of the flashing hand period and unless there is a vehicle on the sensor it immediately restarts the full walk period. Not at all efficient and results in some drivers simply jumping the lights after they think they’ve waited long enough (something that I am not prepared to do and therefore it infuriates me when the “system” encourages such behaviour).
Roundabouts are infinitely superior to four-way stops. I know Ottawa drivers are particularly dozy but so many people approach four-way stops and only bother to look at the other vehicles after they stop and therefore have no idea about who got there first or whose turn it is. Then they have to try to remember the rules about who they should yield to. Impatient drivers give them a count of three and go anyway because someone has to make a move, however that’s dangerous. Roundabouts also result in less wear and tear on the vehicles.
I have to say that I love roundabouts! They keep the traffic flowing and save time.
What I have noticed lately though are problems with two of the traffic circles in Hamilton. One at the bottom of the Kenilworth mountain access and the other at Strathearne and Queenston. The rules of those circles are different from a roundabout. I was almost hit by a driver who moved from the eastbound Queenston traffic circle into the westbound direction and cut me off, then proceeded to change lanes and hit a pickup truck. Both drivers proceeded into a parking lot and I followed them so I could provide my information to the pickup driver. The driver who blew through the yield sign thought that it was a roundabout and was telling the pickup driver that he was supposed to yield to him. I don’t know what can be done to fix this as it was all clearly marked.