On the roads near the San Francisco State campus, there are a few roundabouts. A type of road feature more often seen in Europe, it’s an efficient way to filter traffic connecting multiple roads, without resorting to stop lights. Unfortunately, because roundabouts are so rare here in the States, often times drivers have no idea what to do with them. The rules are simple, really: anyone in the roundabout have absolute right of way. All other traffic hoping to enter has to yield.
I think that’s the problem: yielding. I encounter too many drivers these days who loathe to wait for any seconds longer. You should see their frustration queuing at a red light! God forbid you’re the car blocking them from making a right turn on red.
Anyways, it’s always fun during the start of fall semesters because there would be new drivers to the area. And invariably some of them would do something crazy in the roundabouts near campus. Just the other day I was following a car inside the roundabout circle, and it actually stopped to let another car in. Luckily the other driver knew the rules, and waved the erroneous driver off.
Hey, at least it’s not someone going in the wrong direction! Public service announcement: roundabouts only goes one way - counter-clockwise in America.
But because this is America, and our driving standards to get a license is notoriously poor, I can never relax even during times when I have the absolute right of way. Never know when the next car approaching the circle don’t know or simply don’t care to yield to roundabout traffic. So I never assume: ease off the throttle, be prepared to brake. And if the car is a Nissan Altima, there’s a high chance it will not yield at all.
Relic.