Comment by dwd
1 day ago
> Single-lane roundabouts are really straightforward
Like the Arc de Triomphe roundabout? :)
If it had lane marking there would apparently be 10 tracks around the circle.
What makes it seem crazy is cars entering have right of way.
The reason it works seems to be French attitude. Cars entering do their thing, and cars already going around do their thing (and just have to avoid anyone on their right).
> What makes it seem crazy is cars entering have right of way.
The thing that’s bananas is that this is a City of Paris rule. In the rest of France, traffic entering a roundabout must yield. Not inside Paris. Better make sure you know this!
And even more crazy, the Periphérique, the controlled-access ring road around Paris which tends to move at 40-50mph, is a city street and so traffic entering that highway-like “street” also has right-of-way.
The top of the Arc is open space. Standing up there watching the traffic is amusing. I once saw two buses, side-by-side, exit the roundabout, while the motorbike sandwiched between them attempted to continue further around the circle. Luckily, everything happened at fairly slow speeds, so collision was avoided.
> What makes it seem crazy is cars entering have right of way.
I saw that on either Top Gear or The Grand Tour and was convinced they were just making fun of the French. It's really odd to not have changed it when everyone else learned that lesson already.
Not hitting anyone is a skill some people seem to lack. Sometimes the rules say one thing, but you have to do another, mostly give way even if you're not supposed to yield.