Passing roundabouts - look at the signs
Content
Driving through roundabouts requires the driver to know a number of features that every motorist who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle must be aware of.
SDA - roundabout
An intersection, which most motorists call a roundabout, is understood to mean such an intersection of roads where cars approaching it slow down and move around the main "island".
Moreover, driving is allowed exclusively counterclockwise, and it is this direction that is indicated on the sign installed in front of the intersection of interest to us.
Entry to the described road junction is allowed from any lane. This means that the driver is not obliged to snuggle up to the right side of the road when he sees the traffic sign “Roundabout” in front of him (SDA, clause 8.5). At the same time, exit from the interchange is allowed only from the right extreme side. This is stated in paragraph 8.6.
Passage of roundabouts is carried out along the lane chosen by the motorist. If the driver decides to change lanes closer to its central part, he should, according to the rules of maneuvering, turn on the turn signal on his car. It is also necessary to remember that the traffic rules at the roundabout oblige the motorist to give way to vehicles approaching from the right side (the principle of "interference on the right").
Passing roundabouts with other signs
In situations where there is a “Give way” sign in front of the intersection, there is no need to let the car moving on the right pass, since in this case driving “in a circle” is the main road. At the end of 2010, after the introduction of updated traffic rules, there was a lot of talk about the fact that in the Russian Federation, any movement in a circle began to be called the main road. This is not true.
Advantages in driving along the described intersection are provided to motorists exclusively by priority signs. If there are no such signs, there is no question of any priorities during the movement. Any other information that you may encounter on the Internet, the media, is not true.
We note separately that before the roundabouts, the sign "Intersection with roundabouts" must be installed. It is a warning, it is placed at a distance of 50 to 100 meters to the described interchange in the territory of settlements and at a distance of 150 to 300 meters outside cities and settlements.
Advantages and disadvantages of roundabouts
Such intersections make it possible to significantly relieve traffic on highways where there is a large flow of vehicles, as they are characterized by a number of advantages:
- increasing the capacity of the road section due to the absence of the “red for all cars” situation, which is noted at intersections equipped with traffic lights;
- high level of traffic safety: drivers slow down before the roundabout, which reduces the number of traffic accidents (even if accidents happen, their severity is several times less than at ordinary intersections);
- the possibility of increasing the number of branches at roundabouts without losing the conditions for safe driving.
The disadvantages of the road crossings we have considered include:
- long waiting time for the entrance to the circle during peak hours;
- roundabouts require a larger (compared to conventional) area for their organization;
- difficulties for cyclists and pedestrians due to the lack of traffic lights to regulate traffic;
- the risk of overturning of vehicles with a high center of gravity increases (if their drivers violate the prescribed speed limit).
