Tips and Quips

If any of you are headed for the La Quinta Arts Festival or out to catch a polo match or watch the horses jump at the Horses In The Sun horse show in Thermal – you may encounter a “roundabout” at Jefferson Street and Avenue 52 in La Quinta.

Roundabouts are much more common in the United Kingdom than they are in the U.S.  They are on the rise here which is a good thing considering that statistics show they reduce the number and severity of accidents at as compared to our traditional intersection with signal or signage.  The bad thing is many of us don’t know how to behave at a roundabout.  Seriously, sports fans, a roundabout is so much easier than a four-way stop intersection and far safer than an intersection with signal lights.  Just try to get along!   You don’t have to remember if the driver on left or the right has right of way.  You don’t have that dilemma we’ve all been a part of at a four-way stop.  You know the one, where you wait for the other guy to go and you wait and then wait a little longer and then you think “what a bonehead” and you start to go through AT THE SAME TIME the “bonehead” decides to go through.  With a roundabout, things are pretty basic.  When entering yield to traffic already in the roundabout and by contrast, when leaving the roundabout be sure to merge to the outside lane.   For more in depth info on roundabouts (aka traffic circles) see/ use the link below.   It's an article by Andrew Keh for the New York Times (Nov 18 2010)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/us/19roundabouts.html?_r=0