Having lived in the vicinity of the intersection of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road and Standifer Gap Road for over three decades, I can remember having to wait five minutes or more at times for traffic to clear from Ooltewah-Ringgold Road in order to make a left turn, when there were still stop signs on Standifer Gap. A few years ago, no expense was spared in the installation of a roundabout to help relieve the traffic jams that routinely occurred there as the area grew from the building of many new homes. A four-way stop was not an option since Ooltewah-Ringgold Road is a state road.
So what’s the problem? Far too many drivers on Ooltewah-Ringgold Road who approach this roundabout seem to think they have the right of way over drivers who are already stopped and waiting to enter the traffic circle.
The whole concept of a roundabout is that if you approach it while driving the 20 mph posted speed limit, you usually don’t have to put on your brakes or may just have to stop for a few seconds.
How does a roundabout work? The first vehicle to get to the traffic circle has the right of way. All other drivers are supposed to yield to the vehicle already in the traffic circle, but they are also supposed to yield to drivers who reached the outside of the circle before they arrived. Yet people still seem unclear of the concept or simply don’t care. Maybe some drivers were only children who never learned about taking turns or sharing at home, or missed that lesson in kindergarten. Often it seems like a 1930s Three Stooges conga line or a funeral procession, as a line of vehicles tailgate one another on Ooltewah-Ringgold Road, leaving Standifer Gap drivers fuming and wondering why the county bothered installing the roundabout in the first place.
There are plenty of websites where one can see how a roundabout is supposed to work and how to use it correctly. Slow down when approaching the roundabout, yield to drivers who reach it before you and avoid unnecessary road rage.
Ken Dryden
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You have to be careful driving in roundabouts in this town. They will throw you for a loop.
Michael Mallen
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I can empathize with the Ken Dryden’s comments on how people approach a roundabout. I use the roundabout at the intersection of the W road and Mountain Creek road regularly. Mostly what I encounter is that people approaching this roundabout see it as a challenge as to who can get in the circle the quickest, not who is there first.
The other roundabout I have trouble with is at North Access Road, Highway 153 and Lakeside Drive. When approaching the roundabout from Lakeside Drive, if I stay in the outside lane, I have almost collided with other vehicles who entered the circle from North Access and then turned in front of me to enter onto 153. Lately, I have been entering the circle only from the inside lane when approaching from Lakeside Drive.
Ron Owens
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Could the next lesson be How To Drive The Speed limit? Every road around this town is filled with people who need this lesson.
David Turner
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Mr. Dryden, I hate to tell you but this statement is completely wrong: "but they are also supposed to yield to drivers who reached the outside of the circle before they arrived."
Your only responsibility when approaching a roundabout is to yield to the traffic already in the roundabout (or pedestrians if there is a crosswalk) and merge when there is a safe gap in traffic to do so. There is no law about who gets to the outside of the circle first. If you are trying to do that, then you are applying rules meant for a four way intersection, which is creating more of a problem.
John Hodge
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Although Mr. Dryden went to great effort to educate local drivers on how to use a roundabout, his description contains one glaring error. According to the NHTSA, there is no requirement to yield to traffic waiting at other entrances if they were there first. The only criteria to enter a roundabout is to yield to traffic already in the roundabout. What Mr. Dryden advocates is to turn the roundabout into a 4-way stop. That defeats the entire purpose for the roundabout.
I would suggest that drivers follow the NHTSA guidelines for roundabouts so that our traffic can flow as it is designed.
Stuart Ellis
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You two, Mr. Hodge and Mr. Ellis, lighten up on Mr. Dryden. Those roundabouts can be dangerous. Mainly because people don't understand the rules, and rules were never explained when they were first established on American streets.
Although roundabouts aren't new to many European countries, they're still quite new to American streets.
The roundabout at 37th and 4th Avenue is especially perilous, and it's doubtful the people who should read NHTSA guidelines will even bother to do so, even if they know what NHTSA is and how to access the guidelines.
Driving east or west on 37th, right when you get to 4th Avenue at the roundabout, I've been nearly hit several times as vehicles come barreling from 4th Avenue heading either north or south, trying to be the first, rushing into that roundabout. Twice by company vehicles. Large ones. I'm surprised a serious accident hasn't occurred at that spot.
I always slow down on approach in that area just in case someone driving from 4th Avenue onto 37th comes rushing out, or avoid the area altogether. Beside my experiences, I'm sure there's been other near traffic accidents at that spot, and likely others as well.
I said from the very beginning when those roundabouts first became part of the city's traffic patterns, there should have been a few commercials created showing how they're meant to be used.
Brenda Washington
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When we can manage to obey the simplest of road courtesy such as slower traffic keep to the right, then maybe I’ll expect more from society.
Despite laws and DOT message boards reminding drivers to do this, the moving roadblocks continue.
Do I even have to mention the lack of blinker use.
Michael Burns