Roundabout Careful..Please Please Please

[Arawak]

Maybe an awareness campaign in the hotels themselves. Thinking a pamphlet maybe with the "right of way" rules. Many times I find myself doing a full stop at speed, with cars behind me also going at speed because a V car stopped in the middle of the roundabout to give the one coming into the roundabout a chance to get in.

Right on red is also something I see people in V cars do often. Which is a big no no on the island. At normal intersections also, the one on the right side has right of way. Its not like some countries where its whoever got there first.

One thing to note though is that for whatever reason, be it the roundabouts or some other factor(s), the amount of fatal collisions on the island has dramatically decreased over the years.

[Glenn]

Maybe an awareness campaign in the hotels themselves. Thinking a pamphlet maybe with the "right of way" rules. Many times I find myself doing a full stop at speed, with cars behind me also going at speed because a V car stopped in the middle of the roundabout to give the one coming into the roundabout a chance to get in.

Right on red is also something I see people in V cars do often. Which is a big no no on the island. At normal intersections also, the one on the right side has right of way. Its not like some countries where its whoever got there first.

One thing to note though is that for whatever reason, be it the roundabouts or some other factor(s), the amount of fatal collisions on the island has dramatically decreased over the years.

Good morning,

Excellent post Arawak. I like the idea of some type of "rules of the road" awareness communication. Maybe in one of the glossies we find at the airport or hotel/condo front desks, or a pamphlet that can be handed out at the rental car office.

There is exercising caution and then there is being so cautious that you can cause a problem for traffic coming behind you. Coming to a full stop in the middle of a round about because they are unsure as who has the right-of-way is a good example.

Hey, there is always the bus.


Glenn
Winnipeg, Canada

[Rhys]

In New Jersey, most of the old traffic circles have thankfully been removed because they were so dangerous. I'm sorry to see so many now being built in Aruba. Coupled with poor signage, they take some practice to figure out.

Rhys

[robin]

The roundabout at SuperFoods is a tight one. The combination of the a high center and the orange barriers, it really obstructs views especially in a low sitting car. Traffic going into Super Foods sometimes backs up to the roundabout which makes matters worse. I noticed that the traffic signal sign heading north is still there, so if you don't know they replaced it with a roundabout you will expect a light.

I was told by someone that in Holland they have roundabouts to control traffic(I don't remember seeing any though) and there are cross walks near them so people who live here should know.

Many visitors do not know how to drive in a roundabout. Last week I cut off by a V plate that just drove into the roundabout without slowing down. I think the car rental companies should give about pamphlets about driving regulations and discuss the roundabouts with the renters before handing over the keys.

[gaby]

The most dangerous roundabout there I think is the one by Super Foods. They should have NEVER done that. They should have left the traffic signal for there. We stay at the Gold Coast and when I go to Super Foods, I take the back way instead of LG Smith. This way there is just that small roundabout by Quinta and then Super Foods. That roundabout on LG by Super Foods is an accident waiting to happen (especially if you are going to Super Foods).

[GETA62]

The most dangerous roundabout there I think is the one by Super Foods. They should have NEVER done that. They should have left the traffic signal for there. We stay at the Gold Coast and when I go to Super Foods, I take the back way instead of LG Smith. This way there is just that small roundabout by Quinta and then Super Foods. That roundabout on LG by Super Foods is an accident waiting to happen (especially if you are going to Super Foods).

Same here, we always taking route #2 to go to the Superfood. The roundabout by Super Food also have very poor lightning and make even harder to go around there at night time.
Just visited Guadelupa, recently and they have no traffic lights at all, more cars then in Aruba but roundabouts are made very wide and well lit at night time.

[phrogg108]

Thank you to Andrea J. for starting this post and for the rest of you that replied! We will be renting a car during our stay and I would have never known to watch out for/be aware of any of this stuff. I am typically a relatively decent driver, but it sounds like there is much to watch out for! Thanks for the heads up!!

[lucky]

I think what might work there is rumble strip before the circle plus a pedestrian traffic light that only works whens someone looking to cross can activate it.

[Arawak]

I was told by someone that in Holland they have roundabouts to control traffic(I don't remember seeing any though) and there are cross walks near them so people who live here should know.

In the Netherlands they do have them all over the place, with bike lanes included!

Arguments used for specifically the turborotondes(like the new ones here, including superfood):

1) Safer than intersections with traffic lights
2) On average they make traffic go quicker and lowers the waiting times you would experience at crossroads with lights(which for Aruba specifically is a BIG argument)

Here you can find an explanation in Dutch, chrome should be able to translate to English: http://www.dirkdebaan.nl/wat-is-een-turborotonde.html

[__steve__]

Statistically, we are safer swimming with sharks than driving to the grocery store. We always let our guard down when we drive