Turbo Headaches
Just when it seemed most drivers were getting the hang of not plowing into other cars inside a rotary, new rules have been put into practice at some rotaries. The intention is to facilitate entrances and exits, so that no lane changing is necessary within the rotary. Hah!
In a normal rotary with two lanes, the right lane is always used to exit. The left lane is generally used to make a u-turn, or when the intended exit is the third or fourth. Approaching the exit, the driver should change to the right lane to take it. Most drivers don't follow those rules. Generally, when two lanes lead into a rotary, the drivers stay in their lanes, and exit from either of them. Eagle eyes are activated by drivers exiting from the left lane to make sure the driver next to them in the right lane won't cut them off by continuing around the rotary. After fifteen or twenty years of practice, drivers have gotten the hang of avoiding accidents. Usually.
In the new turbo rotaries, you must enter the rotary in the lane that will take you to your exit. The right lane is generally always for the first exit. The left lane will take you directly to the other exits, and sometimes there's a third lane if the rotary has enough exits. The problem? The undivided line separating the lanes. Crossing an unbroken line on European roads is a serious no-no. You are breaking traffic rules and subject to a nice, big fine. So all drivers entering a turbo rotary must enter knowing exactly which exit they will take.
In a normal world, where signposts abound, and drivers are well informed a good time ahead of a crossroad or a rotary and the various directions to choose from, those turbo rotaries would be just fine. Keep in mind that most Spanish drivers traversing uncharted territory generally use a rotary to keep going in circles before deciding which unmarked exit will take them to their destination. Yes, many drivers use GPS trackers, which audibly tell them which direction to take. But remember that those same trackers have led drivers to pedestrian-only streets and dead-ends, and truck drivers to lanes so narrow engineers have had to be called in to figure out how to remove an eighteen wheeler from them without carving out a new road and demolishing a village or two along the way.
So, it's not surprising that most drivers are confused when confronted with one of these new wonders. If a traffic cop is visible, a confused driver will generally continue along their lane and then figure out just where they're going when they've left the rotary. If no traffic cop is in sight, they will just go on their normal business and cross over unbroken lines while trying not to bump into another car along the way. If you're ever in Spain and find yourself driving blind into a turbo rotary, just take an exit, pull over, take out the best map you can find, and try to figure out how to make it to your destination without having to backtrack fifteen kilometers or more from the direction your exit has led you to. With luck, if your destination is Huesca, you won't end up in Huelva.
In a normal rotary with two lanes, the right lane is always used to exit. The left lane is generally used to make a u-turn, or when the intended exit is the third or fourth. Approaching the exit, the driver should change to the right lane to take it. Most drivers don't follow those rules. Generally, when two lanes lead into a rotary, the drivers stay in their lanes, and exit from either of them. Eagle eyes are activated by drivers exiting from the left lane to make sure the driver next to them in the right lane won't cut them off by continuing around the rotary. After fifteen or twenty years of practice, drivers have gotten the hang of avoiding accidents. Usually.
In the new turbo rotaries, you must enter the rotary in the lane that will take you to your exit. The right lane is generally always for the first exit. The left lane will take you directly to the other exits, and sometimes there's a third lane if the rotary has enough exits. The problem? The undivided line separating the lanes. Crossing an unbroken line on European roads is a serious no-no. You are breaking traffic rules and subject to a nice, big fine. So all drivers entering a turbo rotary must enter knowing exactly which exit they will take.
In a normal world, where signposts abound, and drivers are well informed a good time ahead of a crossroad or a rotary and the various directions to choose from, those turbo rotaries would be just fine. Keep in mind that most Spanish drivers traversing uncharted territory generally use a rotary to keep going in circles before deciding which unmarked exit will take them to their destination. Yes, many drivers use GPS trackers, which audibly tell them which direction to take. But remember that those same trackers have led drivers to pedestrian-only streets and dead-ends, and truck drivers to lanes so narrow engineers have had to be called in to figure out how to remove an eighteen wheeler from them without carving out a new road and demolishing a village or two along the way.
So, it's not surprising that most drivers are confused when confronted with one of these new wonders. If a traffic cop is visible, a confused driver will generally continue along their lane and then figure out just where they're going when they've left the rotary. If no traffic cop is in sight, they will just go on their normal business and cross over unbroken lines while trying not to bump into another car along the way. If you're ever in Spain and find yourself driving blind into a turbo rotary, just take an exit, pull over, take out the best map you can find, and try to figure out how to make it to your destination without having to backtrack fifteen kilometers or more from the direction your exit has led you to. With luck, if your destination is Huesca, you won't end up in Huelva.
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