Comments on: Roundabouts

By: UDAYKUMAR J NAIR

UDAYKUMAR J NAIR — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 10:58:27 +0000

I am in agreement to Mr Raul’s comments. Here roundabouts are indeed bit complex with 2 lane inputs to 3 or 4 lane roundabouts and exit lane varies between 2 to 3 or 4. But however complex the roundabout is in UAE I have never come across any major accidents inside the roundabouts as most of the people do take atmost caution however there are some insane drivers who sometimes drive haphazardly .

By: Raul

Raul — Sun, 15 May 2016 12:12:00 +0000

The article makes me concerned about the perception of the safety of different junction types. Roundabouts are both theoretically and statistically by far safer than signallised intersections.
There are two problems with UAE roundabouts:
* faulty design in terms of approach geometry, grading, lane arrangements, lighting, etc.
* high-speed approaches – all roads are designed straight, wide and convienient to travel at high speeds.

Unfortunately authorities in UAE have no idea how a proper roundabout should be designed. I often hear that UAE road users are somewhat different compared to other countries. But this is as wrong as it can be – where else you have expats being 80% of the population?

There is a problem also how use of roundabouts is being tought in UAE (or at least in Abu Dhabi). The driving school tells you that it is not allowed to change lanes on a roundabout. This is not true and it is also not the safest idea.
What is important is that you select the entry lane correctly as shown on the image. However, it is perfectly acceptable and safe to change lanes one by one on the roundabout towards the nearside lane, but not the opposite. By changing the lanes to the right you will effectively reduce the number of conflicts, additionally you give a clear message to other drivers about your intention to exit the roundabout.

By: Haseeb

Haseeb — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 07:26:58 +0000

Nice info!
but there should be need to update also in driving books, all roundabout photos of UAE must be shown in books to educate students, because many two lane road merge into three lane roundabouts which cause cofusion.

By: Khalifa Pasha

Khalifa Pasha — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 17:26:00 +0000

Nice info,

illustration by video would be more impressing and thoughtful..