How to get around the roundabout
Please tell me how to use the roundabout on Reynolds Rd. When you are in the roundabout, is it okay to exit from the inside lane? AND, are you required to exit at the very next exit if you are in the outside lane?
According to Sgt. Pat Murray of the Traffic and Special Operations division of the Lexington Police, the outer lane of the roundabout is the exit lane. A driver in the outer lane does not have to take the next exit, but that driver does have to yield to the driver in the inner lane trying to exit. So a scenario: a driver enters the roundabout coming from Fayette Mall in the left lane of Reynolds Road and needs to exit to Wellington Way. He should move to the outer/right lane. If there is a driver in the right lane who wants to pass the Wellington Way exit, say to exit onto Keithshire Way, he must yield to the person trying to exit from the inner lane at Wellington Way. If both drivers exit to Wellington Way, they can both take the exit. If the outer lane driver doesn’t exit to Wellington and doesn’t yield, they would collide and the right lane driver would be at fault.
Murray reminds drivers as they change lanes in the roundabout, to slow down, use their rear and side view mirrors and take a quick glance over their shoulder to make sure no one is in their blind spot on the right side.
Filed under: Uncategorized
My mother was a public school librarian. I earned a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Kentucky. The Herald-Leader hired me as a news assistant 25 years ago; soon after, I moved to the news research department, where I’ve been ever since. We used to clip newspapers. Now, almost all of our research is online. We've come a long way.
This answer about the roundabout is confusing. Sgt. Murray says the outer lane is the exit lane but that you can exit from the inner lane too. Sgt. Murrary also says that the outer lane must yield to the inner lane, but then instructs in the scenario that the driver should go to the outer lane to exit. If the inner lane has the right-of-way, why wouldn’t you always stay in the inner lane to exit? The only safe way I see to travel in the right lane in the roundabout is if you are making an immediate turn at the very next exit, in effect, making a right-hand turn. Perhaps the design is flawed by allowing two lanes of cars in the roundabout.
It is really sad to me that folks have to ask these questions. This is what the driver’s manual and test are for. No wonder there are so many useless accidents. People don’t know traffic laws, but they have a driver’s license!
These are the same people who don’t know how to proceed at a four-way stop.
Roundabouts work great…. when you build them right. The Reynolds Road roundabout is too small, the feeders are too fast and the striping too confusing. In a country where drivers aren’t used to having to yield to traffic merging from the left a scheme like the Reynolds road roundabout with two exiting lanes is just asking for collisions. Even worse are those roundabouts where traffic in the circle has to yield to traffic trying to enter. Troy, OH has one, maybe Bardstown KY too. What a nightmare and waste of gas, since at rush hour they simply become a series of four way stops as you sequentially yield to incoming traffic at each feeder. Reynolds road should be enlarged, and the feeders should reduce it to one lane before entering the roundabout, where I would increase the signage and add some landscaping to reduce visibility and further slow traffic.
As an engineer that has been involved in many roundabout designs, I can confirm that the statement Jim made is on the money- roundabouts work great when you build them right. Although there are some serious flaws in Reynolds Road roundabout, it can still work well if drivers understand how to properly drive it.
I’d suggest that you look at some diagrams from the New York DOT website to better understand the rules. Typically, on a 2-lane roundabout, the left lane is for left turns and straight; the right lane is for right turns and straight. The right lane is NOT for left turns. There are some roundabouts where the balance of traffic causes an exception to the rule but the signs and lane markings will indicate the proper lane to be driving.
https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/main/roundabouts/guide-users/motor-vehicle
I agree that Sgt. Murray’s answer is confusing, because the Sgt. says “If there is a driver in the right lane who wants to pass the Wellington Way exit, say to exit onto Keithshire Way, he must yield to the person trying to exit from the inner lane at Wellington Way.” This is not correct. The right, outside lane, cannot continue cannot continue around the roundabout past Wellingon because the driver in the right (outside) lane will not know if the car in the left (inside) lane is going to exit at Wellington or continue to Keithshire.
Both lanes have two options ONLY. The right, outside lane, can either: (a) go straight, in the example from Reynolds to Wellington; OR (b) make what is in effect a right turn by taking the first exit, in the example from Reynolds to what I believe is currently a dead-end road (maybe a church entrance?). The left, inside lane, can either: (a) go straight, in the example from Reynolds to Wellington; OR (b) make what is in effect a left turn, going around the roundabout on the inside, past two exit roads (the dead-end and Wellington), and then exiting out onto the third exit, in the example from Reynolds to Keithshire.
Another way to look at it is by imagining the roundabout is a clock, with both cars coming in at the bottom of the clock, at the 6. The outside lane can either exit at the 3 or the 12, but cannot continue past the 12 (because the inside lane can also exit at the 12). The inside lane can either exit at the 12 or the 9.
And, all incoming traffic yields to all roundabout traffic.
I just realized I should have been clearer about the Sgt.’s comment. IN THE EXAMPLE, the right, outside lane, DOES have to yield to the inside driver if the outside lane driver wants to continue to Keithshire. But, the outside lane driver only has to yield because that driver has screwed up - IN THE EXAMPLE, a driver only exits at Keithshire from the inside lane
And, if a driver in the outside lane wants to exit at Keithshire, then guess what? The driver needs to exit at Wellington, go down Wellington a way and TURN AROUND. Just because the driver chose the wrong lane does not mean the driver should bog down the whole roundabout by dangerously yielding to a possibly exiting inside lane driver.
From: [j.taylorjr@insightbb.com]
I must take exception with the roundabout rules that were published on Monday, June 30. When the roundabout was first opened, I called the State Police, LFUCG Police Traffic Division, the city traffic engineer, the mayor’s office and my council representative to try to find someone who knew the “rules of the road” as applied to roundabouts. I got 4 different answers to the question, “Who has the right of way?”.
As to the scenario you describe, how are you going to know if the person in the left lane wants to exit? If they are in front of you, that’s all well and good: you can see their turn signal. That is, if they use it!. What if both vehicles are right next to each other? Even if turn signals are used, there is no way to see them!
I would think that the vehicle on the right would have the RIGHT of way; the vehicle on the left should yield to the one on the right. As to changing lanes, there is simply not enough room to even think about it. This roundabout is simply too small to accept all of the traffic that it is required to handle. It is not a bad idea, but the implementation is flawed. It should be at least twice the current diameter to be able to function in the way that is described.
Beside all of this, the original plan did not even call for lane dividers; it was called a “Super Lane” that drivers would “share”. RIGHT! Drivers in Lexington can’t even negotiate a 4-way stop correctly, much less “share a lane” with another driver. We had to pay the original designer, an internationally known traffic engineer that supposedly specializes in roundabouts, to “reconfigure” the original into an even worse design. A better idea with the current design would be to funnel all entering traffic into a single entry lane, starting about 100 to 150 feet away from the entry point, then have a single lane around the roundabout itself. Then there are no worries about which lane you are in.
My solution? When I have to use the roundabout, which I avoid if at all possible, I drive down the center of the road. That way I don’t have to worry about who turns where or who has the right of way. If you are in front of me, you have the right of way. If you are behind me, the road is mine!
Well, that is my rant for the day.
OK. I think I’ve got it now.
If you picture the roundabout as just one big intersection, you can plan which lane you need to be in to make the exit you want. You must , however, decide BEFORE you enter the roundabout because there will be little or no chance of changing lanes once in the rotary. (and think of the outside lane as the RIGHT and the inside lane as the LEFT lane).
If you are making a RIGHT turn, you need to be in the RIGHT lane.
If you are going STRAIGHT, you can be in either the RIGHT or LEFT lane.
If you are making a LEFT turn, you need to be in the LEFT lane.
After having an accident yesterday in the roundabout I can say that not even the Division of Police can agree with itself. I was in the outside lane coming from Reynolds Rd and planned to exit at Keithshire. As I have been doing for years now I stay in the right lane and exit when I reach Keithshire.
When the officer arrived and we told our story that the women in the left lane who was dead even with my truck decided she wanted to turn onto Wellington, mind you I could not see her signal had she even used it, she was on the phone came over and hit me as I held my lane, just as you are supose to do on any 2 lane road.
Officer Todd told us that this is his sector and he works at least one accident a day at this location, if the city would remove the roundabout his workload would be reduced by 20%.
In short he explained to me and the other women that I was in the right, this is a 2 lane road all the way around the circle, if you want to turn off at Wellington, Keithshire or Reynolds you are to be in the right lane, if you are in the left you must change lanes before you reach your exit or turn out.
You wouldn’t make a right turn off Nicholasville Rd if you were in the 2nd or 3rd lane from the right side of the road he said thus disproving the idea that the left lane has the right of way over the right lane and all vehicles in the right lane must come to a complete stop to let “idiot drive” in the left lane cross in front.
This is most likely caused by the same people who hog up the left lane on any other 4 lane highway going under the speed limit, while talking on the cell phone and refusing to drive on the right side because “I have to make a left turn 16 miles down the road from now and I want to be in the correct lane now” no matter who else it inconveniences or laws it breaks.
Sorry to rant but now I have a wrecked truck do to poor city planing and lack of signs or public knowledge of something that is better used in Europe.