Traffic Circles?

[North East Goon]

What is the proper procedure on these? I have honestly never driven in one.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Traffice cirlcles have no place in Calgary as far as I'm concerned. No one has ever had to deal with one but all the sudden, they are starting to show up. The only large one I am aware of is the one in McKenzie town. The only thing you reall have to know is the inner ring has right of way over the outer lane. When moving into it, I guess you are supposed to get to the inner ring if you are going around it a ways, if you are taking the first right out of it, I THINK you can just stay in the outer lane.

I'm sure other will be able to answer better than I. Mike Oxlong lives in McKenzie town, he will pipe up I'm sure.

[Barnes]

I lived in Mc Towne. If your exit is the next one in the circle, stay in the outer lane. If you are going more than one around, go to the inside lane and you have right of way to exit. Commit and dont hesitate. Have some balls when entering. Traffic isnt going as fast as it appears.

[shane_c]

Exactly. I live in M-Towne and everytime I enter the traffic circle I witness some moron trying to drive around on the outside and cutting people off as they try to exit from the inside lane. A few times I had to lock up my breaks and lay on my horn.

Originally Posted by Barnes

I lived in Mc Towne. If your exit is the next one in the circle, stay in the outer lane. If you are going more than one around, go to the inside lane and you have right of way to exit. Commit and dont hesitate. Have some balls when entering. Traffic isnt going as fast as it appears.

[sec304]

There's one in Coventry Hills too with a park in the middle, so it's not quite the same, more like a circle yield as there's only one lane... who ever agrees to put these things in should be slowly tortured until the can't feel pain anymore

[J pold]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I lived in Mc Towne. If your exit is the next one in the circle, stay in the outer lane. If you are going more than one around, go to the inside lane and you have right of way to exit. Commit and dont hesitate. Have some balls when entering. Traffic isnt going as fast as it appears.

I live in McKenzie and I avoid that damn Traffic circle like the plague its awful half the people have no Idea what they are doing, people always drive around in the outside lane and people don’t yield to the traffic that in the circle

[ken0042]

The city has a good link on it.
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server....ic+Circles.htm

I agree that they have no place on major streets in Calgary. The smaller one in McKenzie Towne that connects Sobeys and Hyde street is OK, but that should be the extent of it.

[Kybosh]

When I was driving from Edinburgh to Inverness I had to pass through, I kid you not, three giant traffic circles all connected together. It almost felt like I was driving in the olympic logo.

[nieuwy-89]

Originally Posted by sec304

who ever agrees to put these things in should be slowly tortured until the can't feel pain anymore

And who ever can't drive through a traffic circle should have their license revoked. It's really not that tough.

Traffic Circles = faster, safer, more efficient than a traffic signal (when used at the right intersections.)

[Hakan]

Calgary has some of the worst drivers I've ever seen. And by worst I mean they aren't fast or aggressive but they just don't know how to freakin drive. You can pick out Calgarian's here in Vancity all the time on the road. They're the ones with no clue.

[Hakan]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

And who ever can't drive through a traffic circle should have their license revoked. It's really not that tough.

Traffic Circles = faster, safer, more efficient than a traffic signal (when used at the right intersections.)

True.

Traffic circles are superior to the lights in almost every way for small to medium sized intersections.

[Calgary Flames]

They put a few in Richmond Hill... at first I was like WTF is this? But I think they really improved the traffic there. Instead of stop signs bottlenecking the cars people are free to go.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

And who ever can't drive through a traffic circle should have their license revoked. It's really not that tough.

Traffic Circles = faster, safer, more efficient than a traffic signal (when used at the right intersections.)

True but they are so rare in most Canadian cities that people are freaked out by their ignorance. When we moved to Edmonton, I shat my pants whenever I saw one of those things, now that I know the simple rules, they are a breeze.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

And who ever can't drive through a traffic circle should have their license revoked. It's really not that tough.

Traffic Circles = faster, safer, more efficient than a traffic signal (when used at the right intersections.)

Well, seeing as nobody in the gov't makes you re-take a drivers test, how can you start revoking licenses? Other than people like me deciding to get hit rather than avoiding the accident by slamming on my breaks; and thereby causing them to get a ticket.

The fact is nobody has tested my driving ability since I was 16. And that was almost 20 years ago.

[Bobblehead]

There is a school of thought in traffic design that is saying remove signs, create a 'question' in the drivers mind so that they are more aware of their surroundings and actually look at traffic conditions to determine how to best proceed.

It seems counter-intuitive, but where it has been put in place, drivers seem to use their brains instead of putting it on cruice control.

I should see if I can find the link.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The city has a good link on it.
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server....ic+Circles.htm

I agree that they have no place on major streets in Calgary. The smaller one in McKenzie Towne that connects Sobeys and Hyde street is OK, but that should be the extent of it.

That city diagram/instructions seems pretty stupid to me.

Look at the case of cars A, B, and C. If the car in the right lane is supposed to leave at the first exit, why is car A skipping past the first exit and forcing car C to yield?

If their rules are to accurate, the right lane entering a circle should almost be like a direct off-ramp to the road on the right. But that doesn't appear to be happening according to the examples.

In suburban Ottawa, last year they converted a former four way stop, that was always backed up during rush hour, into a traffic circle with only one lane. There never seems to be backups of more then a few cars now.

[Hakan]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Well, seeing as nobody in the gov't makes you re-take a drivers test, how can you start revoking licenses? Other than people like me deciding to get hit rather than avoiding the accident by slamming on my breaks; and thereby causing them to get a ticket.

The fact is nobody has tested my driving ability since I was 16. And that was almost 20 years ago.

Veering off topic but a very good point. I have been an advocate for the government to re-test drivers ever ten years and to force bad drivers to take driving lessons if they have been in numerous accidents.

Apparently the auto industry is dead set against this. It would probably be a bureaucratic nightmare as well.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

Look at the case of cars A, B, and C. If the car in the right lane is supposed to leave at the first exit, why is car A skipping past the first exit and forcing car C to yield?

If their rules are to accurate, the right lane entering a circle should almost be like a direct off-ramp to the road on the right. But that doesn't appear to be happening according to the examples.

Right. Car A is driving around the outside. He is allowed to do it; as long as at each exit he yields to the person on the left.

Myself, I wouldn't because it's easier to go on the inside of the circle. But buses do all the time.

[nieuwy-89]

Originally Posted by Hakan

Veering off topic but a very good point. I have been an advocate for the government to re-test drivers ever ten years and to force bad drivers to take driving lessons if they have been in numerous accidents.

Apparently the auto industry is dead set against this. It would probably be a bureaucratic nightmare as well.

I agree...there should definintely be some form of regular driver testing. Maybe a written test whenever you renew your license, and a road test every 10 years. Politicians always balk at this due to the cost and the knee-jerk public outcry that would ensue.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

And who ever can't drive through a traffic circle should have their license revoked. It's really not that tough.

Traffic Circles = faster, safer, more efficient than a traffic signal (when used at the right intersections.)

Theoretically you are correct.

Practically, however, dropping an occasional traffic circle into communities that have never seen them in their lifetimes is a recipe for disaster.

One of my first maneuvers with a rental car last year in central London was negotiating the roughly six lane Hyde Park traffic circle, hoping I'd spit out the other end on the street I needed to be to get the heck out of town.

Wow!!!

And it went on and on and on, out to Cornwall where every corner has a traffic circle of some kind and then back to central London to the same Hyde Park circle.

After that experience, I would agree with you - theoretically - that circles actually move traffic more efficiently than lights but -practically - you need a lot more circles in our community to think its going to do the same thing here.

If you're not used to them, they really are a menace, particularly if they involve more than a lane or two.

Cowperson