She was already in the traffic circle and someone else came into the circle after she was in it and almost hit her?

If so, she wasn't at fault. The person already in the traffic circle had right of way. At least that's how it is here in NC.

For some weird reason the OP believes a driver must signal left to stay in the circle. Obviously wrong. If you are in the circle, drivers entering yield to you and assume you are going by them unless the you signal right to exit.

already occupied by a car are the ones who stop for an empty circle, thinking, well who knows wtf they are thinking?

That's how it works where I am from, too. There are even YIELD signs at the entry points.

Of course here in NJ we like to do things a bit different.

The Rt. 31/202 circle in Flemington is quite the feat of confusion. Working counter-clockwise from the north entrance... If you are heading south down 202, you have the right of way when entering the circle, Rt 31 South has to yield the right of way to those already on the circle, Rt 12 also has to yield the right of way to those already on the circle, then the circle comes to a stop to yield to those entering the circle from 202/31 Northbound, who then once on the circle have to stop and yield the right of way to those entering the circle from 202 southbound.

I use it when traveling to Bucks Co. PA. Yeah, that is the oddest arrangement. I'd call it a "C" rather than a circle.

It's basically a 5 point circle. 202 / 206 / 28

Again, counter clockwise from the north. If you're on 202 and staying on 202 going either north or south, you are ok and can take the overpass.
But, if your on 202/206 southbound (same road if going south), and you want to traverse the circle to get on either 28 or stay on 206 you stay to the right, and about 100 yards up the ramp leading to the circle there is a traffic signal, if the light is green, you may enter the circle with the right of way. If you are on 28 eastbound, you need to yield to the traffic on the circle before entering. If you are on 202 northbound, not only do you have to yield, but both lanes have a full stop sign regardless of traffic on the circle before entering. If you are on 206 northbound, you yield the right of way to the circle. The same goes for 28 westbound.

So basically if you are on 28WB or 206NB, and want to continue onto 28, you will need to yield to the traffic on the circle, however right before you continue on 28, you will need to yield to the traffic entering the circle.

Also keep in mind that all of the entrances to the circle are two lanes each.

It's the most absurd circle

I am not quite understanding. Did she enter the roundabout by turning left. That would be OK in Britain and Ireland. Was the other driver entering the circle when she was in it. I just don't understand.

She entered the traffic circle and was going around in the leftward circle you make in the traffic circle.

But yeah, I'm confused by the narrative.

one like that (or is the 'left' the going around anti-clockwise?)...

They all go one way.

The law requires that you signal when exiting the roundabout.

My daughter learned this the hard way when some dumba** making a left turn in her roundabout decided to do it from the right lane. My daughter was in the left lane next to him and was driving straight through the roundabout, so he ran into her passenger door.

The police officers told the guy that he was at fault (turning in the wrong lane) and he had an absolute meltdown. A 16 year old girl, in a beat up old Jetta, just wrecked the front of his nearly new Camaro and HE was getting the ticket? Nosirreebob! Eventually, just to shut him up, the cop went looking to find something to cite her for. When he asked her whether she'd signaled her exit, she said no, and he cited her for failing to do so.

I was blown away when I found out. I've never signaled in a roundabout, and was taught that you didn't have to do so. SHE had been taught that you didn't have to do so. Apparently state law disagrees, and states that you're supposed to use your right signal when exiting the roundabout.

imagining driving it on the left side of the road. Sorry, but it makes no sense.

She's in a roundabout. If she turns left in scenario 1, she's cutting across traffic. In scenario 2, she's leaving the roundabout.

So say it's scenario 1. If she turns left, how is the guy entering the roundabout that she's already in going to hit her right side?

Which side of her are you on, that the guy that almost hit her is on your "other" side.

she entered from the opposite side and whipped around the roundabout and cut him off.

She didn't really make a left turn. She got onto the roundabout and circled around it so fast that even though he entered before she did, she raced in front of him and cut him off.

Or she whipped around it and then tried to turn right from his left side, cutting him off. Because I don't see where she could have made a left turn anywhere. You get onto a roundabout, you drive around it until you come to your exit and then turn right off the exit.

And in a single lane roundabout, the only signaling would be to exit.

...west, you're essentially making a left turn but have to go around a slight curve first.

I do know one thing..after writing all the answers here, I hope she rots in hell! (I'm kidding..I'm kidding.)

Roommate and I headed to the Mass coast to celebrate. On our way there, we passed through Salem -- there was a huge, 3-lane roundabout w/speed limit of about 40 and exits all around. It was rush hour, so jam-packed and going more like 50 or 60.

If you made your way into the outer lane too soon, you'd be whisked off with traffic onto the wrong exit and no man's land. Wait a split second too long, and you'd miss your exit and have to go another round.

We drove around that thing I think 7 times, screaming the entire way...

And then there's the roundabout from Fresh Pond Pkwy into Cambridge....

Believe me, after 15+ years living in Mass, I'm very familiar with roundabouts.

Once you are "in" the roundabout, others entering it must yield to you. Pretty basic unless they do something weird in Florida

so yeah, she was in the wrong. But until she was exiting, a turn signal didn't factor in.

when she came around the curve (ie she entered it long before he did).

..her. He was going ah...15 or so. He was going straight. You can't drive much faster than that in some of them...safely.. She entered the RAB after him at a faster speed. He, (of course) thinks she's also going straight. No turn signals...and essentially she keeps going in the circle to make a left. He would keep going because she has no signals on and quite frankly...I would assume the same. "I" thought she was going straight.

then cut across in front of him (turning right to exit the RAB, but a left turn wrt the intersection) and didn't signal at any point?

Yowsers...

He must have been going incredibly slowly if he did, because she would have had to cover a lot more distance for him to hit her in the right hand side. And she can't have been going that quickly if she's turned.

If he did enter before her, then a turn signal wouldn't have done any good. He would have already been in the roundabout, and so he would have had right of way - she wouldn't suddenly get it by using a signal.

How big is the centre of the roundabout? How many lanes does it have?

...because the Elderly here are not-so-good drivers (Yep, I've seen them go the wrong way)
You HAVE to pay attention here. It's possible???, she changed her mind 1/2 way though her turn??

and if he entered first, then both speeds must have been really weird. Did he stall a couple of feet onto the roundabout or something?

...the RAB's here. Maybe I can find a pic.

All lefts and rights are switched, of course, for Britain, but if I've understood your description correctly, and the same rules apply (as they do in France, for instance), then she, being on the roundabout, had the right of way. He should not have entered until he knew she would not be where he might hit her. Good driving by her would have included using her left-hand signal, though by the time she was in front of him, she should have then been indicating right to show she was about to leave the roundabout.

...but are wide in the sense of the curve. Keep in mind it's one lane and (here) if you don't signal, people assume you're going straight.

If she's in the roundabout, she has the right of way. The way you describe it is very confusing but at least initially sounds as if she was in the roundabout first. If so, it doesn't matter which way she intends to go. ETA I just saw your diagram and discripton. She was clearly in the roundabout first. He didn't yield to her. It would have been his fault. And she does not have to have the turn signal on, either. It's a roundabout. It's meant to make intersections run smoothly, with those approaching yielding to those already inside. So, no turn signals needed.

...faster than normal people drive..
I would have nailed her (most likely) The old dude just happened to be going slow enough to stop. I guess you had to be there.

You can repeat that a million times.

Once you are in it, you are the King. Others must yield to you.

is needed, either. (Agreeing with you 100%.)

I'm pretty sure you don't signal when entering roundabouts, because there is no choice but to enter.

Leaving one, on the other hand...is a different story.

Where the rubber meets the road (ha) on this topic, is that turn signals are for declaring your intentions. If theres no reasonable question as to what your intentions are, such as entering a roundabout, then no declaration should be necessary.

When there are options, such as 'leaving at this part of the roundabout vs waiting til the next street interconnection, nobody can know what your intentions are, and you should declare them.

..thing in the center. These are rather out-of-the-norm.

Otherwise you are just driving in a circle. If you are just following the curvature of the road, you don't signal. If the roads curves left I'm pretty fuckin sure you aren't thinking "Hey, today I'm going to go straight into the trees!" On the other hand, if there is a driveway on the right, you signal right to turn into it and OFF of the current road.

I have several traffic circles I drive regularly.

already partially into the circle or not. In fact, people who creep into the circle slowly often can cause accidents, because a car already in the circle may have to slow down or stop.

Rescue workers always check wrecks for all possible occupants. Here's the Snope's link:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/babysign.asp

Kidding...No..I understand and actually that's a great point.

right above him. My friend happened to have a camera within reach, so she took a picture of Luke-Kitty with the sign apparently referencing him.

and others creep through. I guess it's getting better.

The big problem are those that decide to change lanes and not follow the signs and markers. I don't know if they just don't know what they're doing, stupid and/or simply aggressive. Whatever, last I checked signal lights are ALWAYS required in Florida. As far as I know, it's a ticket-able offense to not use signal lights EVERYPLACE ALL THE TIME WHEN REQUIRED!

Ha, she would have a hell of a time in Paris driving, she would leave the huge circle in the center of Paris in pieces. I forget the name of it.

, I'll never drive again!

You know when I fly back to my home country (Australia) and get to the airport and get in the rental car...and I'm dead tired plus thinking about sitting in the opposite seat and driving a ways to my friend's house (in the opposite lane), I (almost) want to say "Aw..fuck it!

I keep reminding myself left lane, left lane, left lane. And in Germany on the autobahn I keep reminding myself watch out for the high-powered Mercedes going by at 800 kph. I guess the roundabouts don't seem so bad. It's the drivers on them that scare me!

Rarely am I disappointed. I get as far away from them as possible, as quickly as possible.

The city switched a turn signal by my house from a left turn to a yield on left turn. Guess what? Zero people yielded. Several huge accidents were caused because of it, one involving my neighbor. They wound up suing the city to get the sign changed back. They did. But the damage was done because fucking idiots don't know the meaning of "yield on left turn".

...(No left turn light) and the person sits back at the left-turn lane until it's clear...except it's NOT going to be clear..too much traffic...and then they (naturally) don't pull up into the intersection to turn...NOOOO, the light turns red and they sit there and sit there...repeat 6 times... Geez...

Seems they add complication where it needn't be.

If there's little traffic around, everyone gets to go as soon as they get to the roundabout. If there's no-one crossing in front of you, you don't have to wait to turn left. If the intersection is one fairly busy road, and one less so, then people from the side roads get to go as soon as someone from the major road turns left or right, but you don't have to have traffic signals that take a lot longer to change than it does for one car to go past.

I grew up in a new town with about 20 roundabouts for a population of 60,000, and no traffic lights. There were no traffic queues - the traffic flowed a lot smoother than the (slightly smaller) towns close by that were older and designed without roundabouts. Eventually, it grew to the size where a few junctions did get busy enough that queues could build up at peak times. At that point, roundabouts can get frustrating. Sometimes, they install lights on the roundabout, but by that point, the roundabout isn't any better than a 4-way crossroads (if you've got 5 or more roads meeting, it still helps, though).

1. They are safer for both cars and pedestrians alike.
2. They are more fuel efficient
3. They allow for more vehicles to travel through them, easing traffic.

The Mythbusters did a show on the circle vs. the 4 way intersection.

http://nextstl.com/2013/10/mythbusters-tackles-four-way-stop-v-roundabout-traffic-throughput/

for an awesome thread haha....beats the shit out of the Primary ones...

there is a major roundabout I use a few times a month. it actually has little branch roads that peel off for right turners, so you only enter the roundabout if going straight or left. I've never used a turn signal because it makes no sense to use a turn signal. if your going straight why would you use one? if you are going left you drive 270 degrees around the roundabout. so would I enter the roundabout with my left turn signal on when I'm going right to enter the rotary? that makes no sense...

I think because I'm used to a very large rotatory when you are probably dealing with a much smaller one.

Yes, it's small and new. I tried to look it up earlier but it was not photographed yet.

You turn right to enter and you turn right to exit. It's all just a matter of how far around the circle you go.

What about south of the equator?!?

There is a common myth that toilets swirl in the opposite direction, but the effect is way too small to do that.

In countries that drive on the right, you turn right to enter. If left, like the UK, you turn left to enter.

The only way the guy could T-bone her on the right (passenger side) was if he didn't yield.

I worked part-time as a cabdriver while in college in Providence, RI. I was transporting a group of four people in the back of my big Checkers cab on the way back from a theater play, other college students in fact, when I started around the curve on the circle.

They hadn't latched the door properly, the door opened, and two fell out into the street, rolling across the road. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. I transported them to the hospital, but they refused medical care.

Once you are in the circle. And I think people in the circle have right of way. You do need to yield to people on the right just like a 4 way stop.

People here are not used to round a bouts so we are all just really careful and go slow and watch to see what the other guys are going to do. We just kind of stay out of each other's way. Nobody really knows what the rules are so everybody is just careful.

They are easier than stoplights in lower traffic areas. We don'the have any in busy intersections.

Driving on the left, all the 'left' and 'right' are swapped in the following, of course, but here are the rules - which you have to obey to pass your test, and which would be taken into account in case of an accident:

They just started seriously building round a bouts around here and no one really knows the rules. We all just go slow and watch out for other cars. If there are cars already in the circle we wait until they go by and then enter if there is room to do so safely. But nobody really knows what they are doing. But our round a bouts are pretty simple. We don't have a bunch of lanes all going at the same time. Usually there's no more than 2 - one on the outside so you can get on and off and sometimes one on the inside. It's not very complicated or we would all be running into each other.

I do signal when I first enter the circle and I signal before I get to the exit I want to take. That's just to let the other drivers know what I intend to do.

Not signaling left before entering the round-a-bout to indicate you want to exit on the street to your left.

That is correct. Lane changes within a round-a-bout are signaled the exact same way they are signaled anywhere else.

"signal right and approach in the right-hand lane" - it's the green car in the diagram:



Notice the right indicator is on during the approach to the roundabout (bottom right of the diagram)

"signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want. " - that's when it's got half way around the roundabout - the 2nd position that car is shown in, now with its left indicator on. After that it can take either of the 2 lanes of the road it's going to.

blow through the thing at a high speed without looking for other traffic and slowing down let alone using a turn signal. It's the place I had my one and only accident in 50 years of driving (only a fender bender). My favorites are the idiots chatting away on their cell phones who don't even realize they're in a roundabout (despite laws against using same while driving). Added to the mix is steady tourist traffic. It's an Interstate exchange in southern Vermont and is also the exit for the route to Maine beaches. The confusion causes those not used to roundabouts to come to a complete stop midway around as they try to figure out how to get off. Roundabouts are a blessing and a curse.

They had them in the UAE while I was until they realized what I stated above. They have managed now to purge most of those monstrousities!!!

I hate, hate, hate roundabouts... inevitably you will find yourself in one with someone who is too aggressive, or doesn't have a clue.

If you have ever been cut-off in a 3, or 4 lane roundabout by someone coming fast from the inside lane, you know of what I speak!

Roundabouts are for sleepy little villages in UK and nothing else...

left side of the road too. People here seem to know how to handle them well enough. Don't get me wrong there are some very bad drivers in Mauritius, some of them the bus drivers, but I have never seen anyone act like an idiot in the roundabouts and they are everywhere.

and many of them are yakking away on a phone--or even texting--while driving.

I almost got t-boned myself--in a grocery store parking lot--yesterday,
by a guy in a pick-up truck who did not heed a stop sign. He just blew
right through without even slowing down, and if I hadn't slammed on
my brakes, he would have hit me. I had the right of way coming in
on the two lanes that run the length of the parking lot: every
intersection-- on both sides--to turn in to parking rows has a stop
sign. He did not stop.

Looked it up, and yep.

Worse-

1. Namibia (45)

2. Thailand (44)

3. Iran (38)

4. Sudan (36)

5. Swaziland (36)

6. Venezuela (35)

7. Congo (34)

8. Malawi (32)

9. Dominican Republic (32)

10. Iraq (32)


Best

184. Switzerland (5)

185. Netherlands (4)

186. Antigua and Barbuda (4)

187. Tonga (4)

188. Israel (4)

189. Marshall Islands (4)

190. Fiji (4)

191. Malta (3)

192. Tajikistan (3)

193. Maldives (2)


In terms of auto fatalities, the U.S. had 14 deaths per 100,000, placing it above the global average of 18.

We should point out that the report leaves out a few countries that might've made the "ten safest" lists, but weren't included -- countries like Greenland and Vatican City. It also overlooks some troubled areas that could've ended up on the bottom, like South Sudan and Palestine. Just so you know.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/cars/the-10-best-and-worst-countries-for-drivers/2014/02/21/340c8fa8-9b16-11e3-8112-52fdf646027b_story.html

American drivers have fewer fatal accidents than drivers in other countries, so we shouldn't
be concerned about how few drivers follow the rules of the road?

Following the rules of the road implies a concern for not only the safety of a driver
and her passengers, but also the safety of others driving on roads. It requires
respect and consideration of others in the community and strangers we pass
on the way to wherever we're going.

I have seen that respect and consideration decline considerably in this country
over the course of the almost 50 years that I've been driving. I think it's
a sad reflection on the self-absorption that so many people exhibit--not only driving--
but in other areas of life, too.

Thanks for posting.

This is another example of the DU "teacher" needing to be a student, first...

The guy had the r.o.w. also...even though he was going slow...very slow.

There's written laws. (of course) but also, in these retirement communities, there's a few things that you won't experience in a younger generation city.

What you are describing (not signalling for a "left", and the car in the roundabout having the right of way,) are the salient features of a roundabout.

The rules you describe (sans the erroneous "he ALSO had the right of way" flub,) are the rules of a four way intersection.

That's quite possible.

Car in circle has right of way and turn signals can be confusing in that situation. Cars entering circle are supposed to stop if a car is in the circle and close enough to cause a collision. Technically a car in the circle is not "turning" they are following the lane around the circle. It is only when a car is getting ready to exit the circle where a turning signal is meaningful and not confusing. If a car is in the circle and no signal is observed the assumption should be that the car is going to stay in the circle.

Aussieland or some other country that drives on the left?

still...

Your physics do not make sense. If she almost T boned him, yes, then he could have been in the circle first, but not the other way around.

Roundabouts
round abouts

Roundabouts are a new type of intersection which improve traffic flow and reduce traffic crashes. Most roundabouts do not require stopping, which allows vehicles to move continuously through intersections at the same low speed. Roundabouts are designed to move all traffic through a counterclockwise direction. Vehicles approaching the roundabout yield to circulating traffic, however, drivers must obey all signs to determine the correct right-of-way in the roundabout.

http://www.123driving.com/flhandbook/flhb-right-of-way.shtml


From the OP's original description, it sounds like the woman was in the roundabout first, but I notice in recent post #82
he says the man was in the roundabout first. Whichever one of them was in the roundabout first had the right of way.

... America needs to kick the roundabout habit before they get started. They ARE NOT cute, or entertaining in any type of way.

and highly disciplined traffic areas. UK drivers are NOTHING like American drivers for example.

I wish I could take you back in time to one of the Dubai monstrousities...

They were insane, and horrific.

Roundabouts are one of my personal all-time horrible, hate beyond any rationality things. They just need to die!

The Mythbusters experiment was with American drivers. And I live in the UK, and I know they work well in many situations. They take up more room, of course, than a crossroads.