Idiots and Roundabouts

[Brandon]

Idiots and Roundabouts, or How to Nearly Cause Three Head-On Accidents With Several Roadgeeks as Witnesses.

This idiot, in the red van, nearly causes three head-on collisions with us watching at the Kalamazoo meet.  We were observing the dumbbell roundabout interchange at Mattawan (Exit 66, I-94) when this moron turned left in spite of three one-way signs and a black on yellow chevron sign.



We all yelled at him to turn right, but he failed to listen.  Even another driver admonished him for driving the British direction in the roundabout.



How blind or stupid does one have to be to miss this:

[US71]

Something similar happened in North Little Rock after a roundabout opened.
http://youtu.be/M_TOreA5iSE

I guess one would call it ignorance? I'm not crazy about Roundabouts mainly because I don't know what the other guy is going to do.

[SSOWorld]

I once saw a car go for a joy ride in one - just going around the world to the left. <--- yes I said left.

[vdeane]

He might have been following internet directions.  I remember one time MapQuest send my family the wrong way around a traffic circle.  Thankfully we do pay attention to signs, but we had to figure out where it was trying to send us since we were going the other way!

[SSOWorld]

The AI in those maps can be dumb.

[Truvelo]

When approaching roundabouts my GPS says things like leave at the 3rd exit instead of saying turn left or right. I suppose if it says turn left at the roundabout you could easily turn left at the roundabout approach which is what the driver of the red van may have done. Surely having the yellow line on your right should have made it obvious

[SSOWorld]

People and GPSs don't get along very well from what I have seen.  I only use one to pinpoint my location for the fun of it and to see "how far" (meaning - if a place is nearby) I am from a place.  It's always fun watching a GPS follow along with you on a trip

[Mr_Northside]

Surely having the yellow line on your right should have made it obvious

Also, while there might be a few exceptions, most approaches are angled to the roundabout in such a way it would seem idiotic to loop to the left.

[1995hoo]

When approaching roundabouts my GPS says things like leave at the 3rd exit instead of saying turn left or right. I suppose if it says turn left at the roundabout you could easily turn left at the roundabout approach which is what the driver of the red van may have done. Surely having the yellow line on your right should have made it obvious

Mine does the same as yours, although it says "traffic circle" instead of "roundabout" (Acura built-in sat-nav system made by Alpine). My wife's Garmin says "roundabout." I suppose if it indeed said "turn left" it underscores why many, perhaps most or all, sat-navs have those annoying nag screens telling you not to place blind trust in their directions.

[jwolfer]

Surely having the yellow line on your right should have made it obvious

Also, while there might be a few exceptions, most approaches are angled to the roundabout in such a way it would seem idiotic to loop to the left.

I see idiots driving everyday.  Making U-Turns in unsafe places.  backing up on a freeway when they miss an exit when there is another exit 500 feet ahead.  Jetting from the left lane across 4 lanes of freeway to make an exit or my favorite just stopping in travel lanes for whatever reason. 

Being roadgeeks we could find our way without GPS but many people couldn't get out of their driveways without GPS directions

[formulanone]

Also, while there might be a few exceptions, most approaches are angled to the roundabout in such a way it would seem idiotic to loop to the left.

We have a few people that "straight-line" them in their pickup trucks.