Thursday, February 25, 2010

Singapore drivers and round-abouts

I was taught driving in UK where I studied there for a good period of 4 years.

Though some might say its always easier to learn driving outside of Singapore but that doesn't mean a driver trained in Singapore is always a better driver than those whom obtained a license elsewhere.

Take for example, navigating and negotiating a round-about.

Singapore has removed most large round-abouts in the late 80s. But there are still some smaller ones in neighbourhood estates. Personally, I feel most younger Singaporean drivers do not know how to enter and exit round-abouts.



So I share my knowledge today with everyone.

Rule number 1 when entering round-abouts.

Always give way to vehicles on the right side.
I get inadequately trained drivers expecting vehicles within the round-abouts to give way to their vehicle to enter.

The worst scenerio I ever encountered was a vehicle stopping within the round-about giving way to another vehicle wanting to enter the round-about.

The reason for having round-about is so that the traffic flow within the round-abouts does not stop. Drivers are expected to know and use the window of opportunity to enter the round-about rather than having timed traffic lights to stop vehicles even when there are no traffic within junctions.

Here are 2 diagrams I created to help new drivers learn how to navigate and negotiate a round-about for the sake of better traffic flow and safety of other motorists.

 
Always give way to vehicles on the right within
the round-about if they are not exiting at your position




Keep to inner lanes and filter to
extreme left lanes only if exiting on next exit


There is a reason why the Singapore Land Transport Authority removed all large round-abouts in Singapore in the late 80s.... 

Round-abouts are meant to improve traffic flow instead of having timed traffic lights....

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