an american in belgië : Rotonde

I had a ridiculous fear of driving in Europe when we first arrived here. I was amazed that Jim could navigate with all the signage in numerous foreign languages. We don't even drive on the "wrong" side of the road as in the U.K., but it's still daunting. At first.

Cars move at high speeds like everywhere and there's no time to stop and think. I mentioned in an earlier post that there are almost no stop signs and very few traffic signals. But there are thousands of roundabouts (called rotondes in Belgium).

Once you start driving in Europe you are bound to encounter a roundabout. Navigating one of these was one of my biggest fears because the traffic continues to flow - there's no stopping. After exiting one of these you are immediately grateful you survived and wonder how, with everyone changing lanes and asking yourself who yields to whom.

But once you figure it out you'll realize it's an ingenious invention.

Roundabouts are designed to increase traffic flow, reduce accidents, reduce fuel consumption and reduce emissions. And they actually do all that. I admit it can be confusing at first. I don't know how many roundabouts there are in Belgium, but I learned there are 30,000 in France compared to 2,000 in the States. From my experience, I'm guessing there may be even more in Belgium than in France!

Consider this . . . the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety reports that converting an intersection from traffic signals or stop signs to roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 80% and all crashes by 40%!

I'll let you mull that one a moment. Reduced injury crashes by 80% and all crashes by 40%.

Another study of higher-speed rural intersections found that injury crashes were reduced by 84% and fatal crashes were completely eliminated. Yes. Like all those dangerous intersections (think Maple-Barnett Springs) that are all over Louisiana and Texas where some idiot runs the stop sign and kills a family of 4.

By all means, mull that statistic a moment. Fatal crashes completely eliminated.

Of course you can't discount the reduction in emissions by more than 30% either.

Because traffic moves in a single direction, roundabouts essentially eliminate the potential for dangerous crashes like head-on collisions. The driver speeding up to make a green light, abruptly stopping at a red light, or worse - speeding up to miss it, doesn't exist. Traffic lights and stop signs aren't needed so it isn't possible to do any or all of the above.

Obviously accidents do occur, but they are mainly side-swiping. Again, head-on collisions not possible.

The biggest problem for Americans (me included) is that most Americans don't know how to navigate them, they have an irrational fear of them, and they often oppose them simply because they don't understand them.

So hopefully, when a roundabout is proposed in your town, don't do like some American cities have done - sign petitions to quash it. A lot of opinionated people haven't learned enough to form an opinion. And a lot of people just don't know what's good for them. The amazing statistics speak for themselves and that's not an opinion, that's a fact.

This reluctant American figured it out and it really is an ingenious invention. Not to mention a lifesaver.

In the event you haven't driven a roundabout and think you might encounter one in the near future (or ever), here is a short video on how to drive a roundabout.

Worth watching.

You can see why texting, talking on your cell phone, applying lipstick and drinking coffee really aren't an option here. Nor should they be anywhere.

Of course it's very important to pay attention to when a roundabout is coming up so if you see . . .