Ontario drivers are so bad at using one road feature that police keep having to explain it

Ontario motorists may happily flout almost any and all rules of the road to avoid the maddening congestion in cities like Toronto, but there is one particular driving error that many of them keep unintentionally making, despite their best efforts.

Roundabouts and traffic circles have been a mainstay of roads elsewhere in the world for decades, but are still relatively new and rare in Canada — which explains why people here are often so confused about how they work.

Apparently, residents of one part of the province have had such a hard time with the intersection type lately that local police have had to issue a PSA to remind them how to properly use one.

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers in the East Region detachment took to social media this week to address “numerous questions” they’ve received lately about the road feature.

“Like other communities in the area, we are seeing upgrades in local infrastructure, including the addition of roundabouts” the force said specifically of Russell Township, which is right outside Ottawa, on Facebook Monday.

The post then proceeded to outline, in detail, how one should behave in a roundabout, from doing a visual check upon approach to exiting using the correct lane.

For those wondering if they’ve been doing it right, the steps, according to those who may pull you over for misuse, are as follows:

• Visual checks: Do visual checks of all vehicles already in the roundabout and those waiting to enter (including cyclists).
• Look left: Traffic in the roundabout has the right-of-way. When preparing to enter the roundabout, pay special attention to the vehicles to your left. Adjust your speed or stop at the yield sign if necessary.
• Adequate gap: Watch for a safe opportunity to enter the roundabout. Enter when there is an adequate gap in the circulating traffic flow. Don’t enter directly beside another already in the roundabout, as that may be exiting at the next exit.
• Travel counterclockwise: Once in the roundabout, always keep to the right of the central island and travel in a counterclockwise direction.
• Keep moving: Once you are in the roundabout, do not stop except to avoid a collision; you have the right-of-way over entering traffic. Do not change lanes while in the roundabout. If in the inside lane and you miss your exit, you must continue around until you meet your exit again.

And, when exiting:

• Signal: Be sure to signal your exit and watch for pedestrians.
• Maintain your lane: Stay to the left if you entered from the left lane or stay to the right if you entered from the right lane.
• Maintain your position: Maintain your position relative to other vehicles.
• Signal intent to exit: Once you have passed the exit before the one you want, use your right-turn signal.
• Left lane exit: If exiting from the left lane, watch out for vehicles on the right that continue to circulate around the roundabout.

Based on the 100+ reactions and dozens of comments on the update, it seems that the authorities’ guidance in this case is very much needed in Russell Township and perhaps further across the province, too.

“I’ve seen people stopping once they’re in the roundabout to let people in,” one person wrote, while another said that they regularly witness “people entering roundabouts like it’s a time trial for the Indy 500.”

Still another accused uniformed officers of not even being able to drive through traffic circles correctly, claiming, “I’ve seen OPP not use any signals in these roundabouts.”

And, in what seems to be a common sentiment, one resident simply stated, “I don’t like roundabouts, and never will.”