Editor: I was very surprised to read Bruce Corcoran’s recent column (“Near miss in the roundabout”) about roundabouts, more so the one he almost had a bad experience at.
Over my almost 30 years of experience in driver education, I have never seen an intersection, a curve, a bridge or any road shape or form to cause any collisions. My experience about this is the failure of a human user, and or a faulty vehicle.
Traffic signs aren’t decorations, they do indeed direct drivers what to do. I find that this province overall has a good enough amount of traffic signs directing the public on what to do here-there an most everywhere we drive.
People need to keep in mind that driving is a privilege, not a right. The road belongs to everyone who uses it.
All levels of government miserably fail to educate the public in a massive way what to do with our latest signs, lights, and road technologies.
A roundabout is designed to move traffic better, as it is not a must to stop, depending where you are at.
A yield principle is a must! Just like any yield ramp, no difference. We in C-K have lots of yield signs at small, and mid-size ramps.
A positive for a roundabout is no hydro is needed, so it works day or night, with or without hydro anywhere.
U turns are A OK. In a single-lane roundabout, the immediate exit goes to the right, second exit goes straight, and the third exit goes left. Easy enough. The fourth exit, which is the one you entered, is the exit of a U turn.
The onus is on whatever the level of government that places a roundabout to make sure the driving public know what to do.
In my mind, I see traffic advisors talking to government traffic employees who decide what to throw at the public, but no sign of a driver adviser, so they know how it works. Any Jane and Joe can fend and will fend for themselves.
In all of my years in driving education, not once I have seen a real campaign to educate the public about the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) which is composed of thousands of laws and rules of the road.
Every time any level of government makes a serious change to traffic formats and or laws, they just send a press release, do a press conference, posted in their website that very few people bother to look at.
The regular public also fails to even try to understand what the road signs mean, or other people just don’t care and do whatever they want, again with the attitude that the road is for them alone.
Police also need to get a bit more on it, and not to let people go just with a warning.
Lots of people have the firm belief that police think it is OK for people to speed 10 km/h over the limit anywhere.
I am on the road just about every single day. Small roads, big roads, little intersections and big ones, in all kinds of weather, residential and main roads, highways and freeways.
Books can be published on what people do on the road that are safety issues for themselves and others. No need to invent the wheel here, pardon the pun.
There are already enough laws to make the motoring public more aware and safer. Education by all levels of government to the public is certainly needed.
Hugo Ramos
Wallaceburg
