A whole entry about ‘rotundas’ – ’roundabouts’ to you and me indicates a little of the trouble these traffic-controlling measures create in Spain.
For just about THE WHOLE of the rest of the word- certainly everyone in Europe, UK included, there is a very sensible set of rules applied to driving on roundabouts. Number one – don’t stop ON the roundabout. Its dangerous. NOT IN SPAIN – people stop to answer their mobiles, pick their kids up, pull out their nasal hairs using the mirror, have a natter with mates on the pavement – all without even checking said shiny thing in the middle of their windscreen for its proper purpose or even using those little flashing orange things on each corner of their car.
I was nearly wiped out as a cyclist so many times by – excuse me – assholes stopping abruptly and without warning to answer their phones on roundabouts who looked at me in shock and amazement as I swerved around them narrowly avoiding serious injury and cursing them loudly as I skimmed their wing mirrors.
And whilst I’m on the subject – indicators. The only thing these little lights do is indicate to the rest of the world who the British drivers are, since it is only the Brits who use them religiously. Spanish drivers consider it a slur on their manhood to touch the little stalk on their steering column to start that little winky thing: Unless they are going ‘all the way around’ a roundabout on the outside in which case it is quite likely they will have their ‘outside’ indicator on all the time.. to try and trick you into pulling straight out in front, believing they’re telling you they are turning off at ‘your’ exit.
And now the piece de resistance: Spanish drivers are actually taught a different system ( yes, I was surprised to find they DO actually have lessons) for lanes on roundabouts. If memory serves me right the British highway code tells you to use the left lane for heading left and straight on, if it is busy you can use the right lane too for heading straight on. Not in Spain.
(Remembering its the opposite side of the road here-) The ‘right’ – outside- lane is used all the time even if you want to go 270 degrees and turn left. DO NOT USE THE SECOND LANE TO GO STRAIGHT ON, you’ll get hit by a car, bus or smoky old truck sweeping around to the left across your path without indicating. Every week some unfortunate well behaved Brit, German or Scandinavian get taken out by a vehicle traversing all the way round on the ‘outside’. My strategy?
Always use the right lane, indicate and at least someone cannot overtake on one side of me (they will try and overtake you on a roundbout, believe me) – not any more, as I’m hugging the ‘right’ edge of the road. ALWAYS expect a Brit to cut across the front of your bows from the middle lane, going straight on – and give way to everything. Defensive driving is ‘de rigeur ‘in this land of dumbass fuck-wittery on wheels. The State ‘Police Support’ Facebook Site ‘N332’ posts its own little ‘how to drive on roundabouts in Spain’ charming videos with toy cars because there are so many crashes every month. and in reply to these posts there are literally hundreds of incredulous European visitor posts telling the Spanish to change how they drive like lunatics on roundabouts, before someone else becomes a victim of this nonsensically stupid approach.
Next time I come across it I’ll post a link to this blog entry so you can go and have a laugh – and then shake your head in disbelief that a European country can be so out of step with all the others and wonder why there are so many smashed cars at roundabouts. It’s Spain, baby!
You have been warned.. Oh the ‘only time’ you are supposed to use that second lane? If you are doing a 360 degree turn back to where you have come from and even then ‘You aren’t allowed to exit the roundabout from the second lane’. Eh? Go figure. Defensively.