Got stuck in a roundabout for 45 minutes because someone couldn't figure out how to use it

This was on that new 5-way roundabout they put in over by the mall on Route 9. Some lady in a minivan just stopped dead in the middle of it with her blinker on. Nobody could go anywhere. I counted 3 full rotations before a cop finally showed up and walked her through it. She was crying by then. Has anyone else noticed these things are getting way too complicated for your average driver?

3 comments

3 Comments

joel_butler22d ago

Man, that's brutal... I feel for her though, these things can be a maze if you're not ready for them. What worked for me was treating it like a regular intersection, just go slow and commit to your lane. I actually practiced late at night when nobody was around, just ran through all the exits a few times until it clicked in my head. The trick is to pick your exit before you even enter and stay in the lane that makes sense for it. Most people panic because they're trying to figure it out on the fly and that's when you get frozen up like that poor lady.

the_eric22d ago

It's like that with most hard things in life, plan ahead or you'll freeze up.

hannahm3922d ago

5 way roundabouts are actually super simple once you stop overthinking them. I've driven through that exact one by the mall dozens of times and never had an issue. The minivan lady was probably looking at her phone or had no clue where she was going, because you literally just follow the painted arrows and your lane markings. If you can navigate a parking lot you can handle a roundabout, people act like it's rocket science when it's really just a circle with exits.