Editor:
Like many of Gen-X vintage, my introduction to roundabouts came through National Lampoon’s European Vacation in 1985 and Clark Griswold’s “navigation” of Lambeth Bridge Roundabout with the oft repeated phrase “look kids there’s Big Ben and there’s Parliament”.
In the May 4 letters section. Gordon Sykes rebuts an earlier letter’s statement of “rules are simple” and concludes with “[r]ules are not simple.”
It seems society has become a system of consulting rule books before making any move or decision. Rules are important, but common sense is key. Yield to vehicles within the circle (“if they’re already in, they have the win”) and signal when exiting (“remember to flash to avoid a crash”). It shouldn’t be any more complicated than this.
Roundabouts are traffic staples around the world and, yes, they are new to our area and may cause some anxiety to some drivers. I don’t think, however, we need to write a 50-page rule book when common sense (admittedly lacking in many drivers today) can prevail.
Mark Schoeffel
