Rotaries are a unique driving experience in Europe. If you know how to use them, they'll get you to where you're going quickly and efficiently in most countries. If, on the other hand, you hesitate as you approach one, or you're driving in Spain, they become a problem.
About twenty years ago, at intersections all over the country, round islands began to appear in the middle of the roads. Instead of maintaining speed or checking the traffic lights, people had to slow down and drive around those islands. People on the main roads were not happy at having to slow down. People from cross roads were not happy because they didn't know how to break into the traffic from the main road slowing around the rotary. And since at night all cats are black, the traffic islands were almost invisible. Through habit, some drivers went straight through them, including my father-in-law. At that time the rotaries were still being settled in, so they were only a mound of earth in the middle of the road surrounded by low paving stones. Cars weren't hurt and in the morning there would be tire tracks right through the middle. Once signs started to go up, the signs would appear knocked down. But once the plants and statues and other ornamentations were put in, cars faced unsurmountable obstacles. Some mornings a car with a crushed motor would appear as a new landmark. Spanish drivers take a small change in itinerary quite hard. So do their cars.
People my age who went to driving school before rotaries became so popular never really got the hang of using one. They tend to have two lanes, the inside lane and the outside lane. The inside lane is only used to make a u-turn. But the outside lane must always be used to exit the rotary. In a rotary that encompasses a city block, that can be feasible. But the little rotaries that exist all over the place are too small for that. The lanes are generally ignored by drivers. They will tend to cut across in as much of a straight line as possible. Of course, that means that during every hour you will hear several blaring of horns and see several episodes of laudable driving tactics as cars avoid the unavoidable collision.
Sometimes, as you come upon a rotary, you may find yourself doubting just which exit to take. Normal, because road signs in Spain are similar to hen's teeth - not there. Or they are there, but you need to have a map to know just where those roads pass through. You may want to go to small town X. But the road signs all have the names of large towns. So, was town X on the road to city Y or city B? Whenever you approach a rotary and see a car circling it more than once, that's what the driver is trying to figure out. Or he's simply saying, eeny meeny, miny moe. On our trip to France all the rotaries were well signed. We didn't get lost, even though we had never travelled those roads before. Coming back, we got lost and ended up in the middle of Santander. Once there, we tried to find our way back to the highway and the direction of Oviedo. We reached a rotary just outside the city and went at least two times around as we were searching for a sign to say Oviedo. The only one we saw in the blue that designated a highway was the sign to Bilbao, the direction we had come in. I gave up (I was driving) and went in that direction. After a minute we found ourselves at another rotary. Here, at least, we saw a sign that said Oviedo. Viva Spanish road signs and their clarity.
So, if you ever come to Spain and drive a car here, acquaint yourself with a good road map or an excellent GPS. You're going to need them to navigate those pesky rotaries.
About twenty years ago, at intersections all over the country, round islands began to appear in the middle of the roads. Instead of maintaining speed or checking the traffic lights, people had to slow down and drive around those islands. People on the main roads were not happy at having to slow down. People from cross roads were not happy because they didn't know how to break into the traffic from the main road slowing around the rotary. And since at night all cats are black, the traffic islands were almost invisible. Through habit, some drivers went straight through them, including my father-in-law. At that time the rotaries were still being settled in, so they were only a mound of earth in the middle of the road surrounded by low paving stones. Cars weren't hurt and in the morning there would be tire tracks right through the middle. Once signs started to go up, the signs would appear knocked down. But once the plants and statues and other ornamentations were put in, cars faced unsurmountable obstacles. Some mornings a car with a crushed motor would appear as a new landmark. Spanish drivers take a small change in itinerary quite hard. So do their cars.People my age who went to driving school before rotaries became so popular never really got the hang of using one. They tend to have two lanes, the inside lane and the outside lane. The inside lane is only used to make a u-turn. But the outside lane must always be used to exit the rotary. In a rotary that encompasses a city block, that can be feasible. But the little rotaries that exist all over the place are too small for that. The lanes are generally ignored by drivers. They will tend to cut across in as much of a straight line as possible. Of course, that means that during every hour you will hear several blaring of horns and see several episodes of laudable driving tactics as cars avoid the unavoidable collision.
Sometimes, as you come upon a rotary, you may find yourself doubting just which exit to take. Normal, because road signs in Spain are similar to hen's teeth - not there. Or they are there, but you need to have a map to know just where those roads pass through. You may want to go to small town X. But the road signs all have the names of large towns. So, was town X on the road to city Y or city B? Whenever you approach a rotary and see a car circling it more than once, that's what the driver is trying to figure out. Or he's simply saying, eeny meeny, miny moe. On our trip to France all the rotaries were well signed. We didn't get lost, even though we had never travelled those roads before. Coming back, we got lost and ended up in the middle of Santander. Once there, we tried to find our way back to the highway and the direction of Oviedo. We reached a rotary just outside the city and went at least two times around as we were searching for a sign to say Oviedo. The only one we saw in the blue that designated a highway was the sign to Bilbao, the direction we had come in. I gave up (I was driving) and went in that direction. After a minute we found ourselves at another rotary. Here, at least, we saw a sign that said Oviedo. Viva Spanish road signs and their clarity.
So, if you ever come to Spain and drive a car here, acquaint yourself with a good road map or an excellent GPS. You're going to need them to navigate those pesky rotaries.
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