Traffic circles are hard.

[KrTu83]

It never ceases to amaze me how bad some people are at the game of driving. Though you may not come across them often, it's pretty easy to figure how single-directional traffic circles work. Or so my husband and I thought.

Apparently, if you're in the right lane with intentions to continue forward and the person in the left lane wants to turn right, there is no way he is in the wrong if he runs his '89 Mustang GT into you. Now, I get to wait while his insurance company tries to figure out if their client is at fault and if they need to pay the repairs.

Why is this game so hard? In any other situation, if the person in the right lane (going forward) gets hit by the person in the left lane (turning right), the fault is pretty obvious!

[88LTDCV351]

Downtown Indianapolis around the monument is I believe like you describe. However, I think usually those in the left lane are trying to get around those in the outer lane so they can turn right at thier next opportunity. Those on the outer lane are usually trying to turn at the next opportunity also. The inner lane usually don't expect the outer circle to not turn as soon as the next turn appears although I believe the outer circle doesn't have to turn and could continue around the circle indefinately also as the inner circle can also do. So be careful out there people.

[88LTDCV351]

For instance, I always stay in the outer circle because my turn eventually comes up. Why go in the inner circle and then have to get back over to turn, right? Well, apparently the inner circle doesn't like that as they are trying to get around as many cars as possible so when you go straight at the first turn (trying to through to get to the next turn instead) they don't like that because they were trying to get to that next turn also. And they can't cut in front of you if your going straight and not turning. And then they honk at me. Am I making sense?

[KrTu83]

Perfect sense. I mean, the guy actually thought that his 90 degree turn was him "going straight" onto the street that he wanted. The circle isn't massive by any standard - the median circle might be twenty feet across - but drivers in the outer circle can choose to take the coming turn or continue forward to the next one. However, being on the inside, you must continue through the circle. There are even arrows on the ground to indicate which directions are acceptable in which lane. My lane had a forward arrow and a rightward branching arrow, while the inside had only a forward.

Just blows my mind.

[Siege]

I'm sorry to hear about your accident. We have single lane traffic circles here where people still can't figure out right of way. Coming to a complete stop while in the circle so they can allow someone from a side road to merge in is common.

Did the police come out to file a report? Any witnesses?

[DOOM]

Plenty of circles in D.C.

Childs play for me. Some people just can't drive! :mad2:

[Siege]

Plenty of circles in D.C.

Childs play for me. Some people just can't drive! :mad2:

Have you ever had the "pleasure" of going through the Towson traffic circle?

I think the MO of most drivers in that circle are floor it and pray.

[KrTu83]

There weren't any good witnesses. It happened on post at 0530, so very few people were coming through the gate to see anything. The MPs came and based on explanations decided the other guy was at fault. After hearing he was at fault, the dude starts back pedaling and trying to fix his story. To spare having to cite both parties, the MPs left off filing a report. Not gonna lie, getting cited would have probably just resulted in that guy getting strangled, so the MPs saved his life and spared our nerves.