Overheard In The Aisle at Work

Conversation between two people originally from other countries:

Person 1: It's beautiful there - 80-85 degrees year-round.
Person 2: Wow, it must get hot there in the summer!

Those Darned Roundabouts

My Rant Du Jour again addresses the wonderful experience of driving in the DC area. My going-in position is that no one here knows how to drive, and it is getting worse.

It all started with Pierre L'Enfant in 1791. Check out the details here, but let's focus on the hubs of his street design. These hubs are what we lovingly know as traffic circles, or more accurately: roundabouts. These roundabouts will be our death.

No, I do not like driving in DC proper, and avoid it at all costs, but some smart-guy (and I just know it was a guy) decided that suburbia could benefit from a few roundabouts, so in the past few years they have sprung up all over the place. Now mind you, we are talking about inserting a roundabout at a spot where people were previously playing bumper-cars with each other at four-way stops, and I use the term "stops" loosely. Now we are playing bumper-cars in circles instead of squares.

So I thought I'd take this opportunity to explain a bit about how one is supposed to drive in a roundabout.

Here is a link to a good example of how traffic should flow in a roundabout: How to drive in a right-hand roundabout. It looks pretty simple, doesn't it? Here's the How To in words, taken from this site:

Step 1: Slow down as you approach the intersection. You're typically not required to stop.

Step 2: Wait for a gap and merge with the moving traffic into the outside lane.

Step 3: Yield to vehicles already in the circle.

Step 4: Turn left or right from the circle by following the inside lane around and then moving to the outside lane, following it to your exit.

Step 5: Continue driving straight ahead by approaching the circle on the outside lane and staying out of the circling lane.

Step 6: Watch for pedestrians and bicycles.

Step 7: Keep in mind that buses or large trucks need extra room to make turns and might take up more than one lane in a traffic circle.

Step 8: Obey all traffic signs and road markings.

Step 9: Signal your intent to other drivers when entering, going around and exiting the circle.

Okay, let me repeat that this is how it is supposed to be done. I see several problems with this, based on my 25+ years' of driving experience in this area. Let's go over those steps again:

Step 1: Slow down as you approach the intersection. You're typically not required to stop. Slow down ... HAHAHAHAHA! No one here slows down for anything.

Step 2: Wait for a gap and merge with the moving traffic into the outside lane. Wait for a gap ... HAHAHAHA! Everyone here has the right of way and no one waits for anyone.

Step 3: Yield to vehicles already in the circle. Yield ... HAHAHAHA! See Step 2.

Step 4: Turn left or right from the circle by following the inside lane around and then moving to the outside lane, following it to your exit. HAHAHAHA! This only works if the person making the tricky maneuver actually looks to see if there is someone in the outside lane before moving into it.

Step 5: Continue driving straight ahead by approaching the circle on the outside lane and staying out of the circling lane. See Step 4.

Step 6: Watch for pedestrians and bicycles. Ditto.

Step 7: Keep in mind that buses or large trucks need extra room to make turns and might take up more than one lane in a traffic circle. No comment.

Step 8: Obey all traffic signs and road markings. Obey traffic signs ... HAHAHA! Oh, sorry, were there signs? Really? Only 3? Well how do you expect me to see only 3?

Step 9: Signal your intent to other drivers when entering, going around and exiting the circle. Signals are optional equipment in these parts. See Law #1 in my post from last year about the DC-area Driving Laws.

So I see why these roundabouts are treacherous, but that guy who decided they'd be a good idea here in the 'burbs obviously takes the Metro to work and does not have to drive through any of them. Every day I thank my lucky stars I make it home from work in one piece (minus a few nerves).

And let us be thankful that we do not live anywhere near one of these.

Taking Responsibility, Revisted

I think I need to stop reading this stuff. How many more times are we going to be asked to help bail out someone who failed to be responsible for themselves?!

Read on (the bold part is my doing):
------------------------------

Schwarzenegger Seeks Federal Disaster Declaration
November 19, 2008

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the Bush administration to declare Southern California a federal disaster site after fires tore through wide swaths of the region.

According to a letter the governor sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state needs help cleaning up after wildfires destroyed more than 800 homes and burned more than 40,000 acres over the weekend.

Schwarzenegger says California needs help cleaning up debris and protecting burned properties from potential flooding.

The governor also requested disaster loans for the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino. He says many of the residents affected by the fires -- particularly mobile home owners -- lacked insurance or are seriously underinsured.
-------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry. I do feel for the displaced people, but if you do not bother to figure out a way to insure your own property, and to the correct amount of its worth, why is this my problem? Can I drop my homeowners insurance and get rebuilt because I am uninsured? Can I fail to adjust my coverage up when the value of my home increases and get someone else to pay the difference? Puleeze! I am sick to death of being expected to bail out people who do not help themselves.