Round, round we go.
The mere mention of roundabouts seems to make people’s heads spin.
The pending River Road roundabout in Chemainus has brought the topic to the forefront again.
Most of the concern about roundabouts pertains to the terrible habits of drivers. That’s not the fault of the roundabouts.
There’s a few places where roundabouts have been installed where they’re really not necessary. But in certain locations, the roundabout system appears to work far better for traffic flow than stoplights or three- or four-way stop sign intersections.
We’re not talking about roundabouts of the same magnitude here as the ones around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris where it surely gets complicated with lanes all over the place.
Here, it’s very simple, but we constantly get requests from people to print the rules of the roundabouts so everyone gets it.
The rules are so simple they shouldn’t even have to be mentioned.
A post on the Chemainus Valley Courier Facebook page about River Road and roundabouts, in general, generated numerous responses.
Mike Mercer perhaps summed it up best: “The proper procedure is enter the circle slowly. You have to yield to the vehicle on your left. Blend in with traffic and signal right at the street you are exiting on. Done. I hate people that have their left turn signal on. Of course, you’re going left. What other way are you going?”
Of course, it all goes awry with people deciding to follow a different protocol.
“The amount of people that stop in the circle to let others through is ridiculous,” noted Ashley Welsby. “I’ve also been honked at, fingered and got the good ol’ arms in the air when I’m going through and didn’t stop to let them in.”
At River Road, a three-way stop as some people have proposed wouldn’t work. Everyone would be looking at each other wondering who has the right of way.
A roundabout there moved eastward is the right choice and will work fine as soon as some drivers figure out what they’re supposed to do - and not do, for that matter.