Knoxville — It's Driving You Crazy, and this week we took a look at roundabouts in East Tennessee.
Viewer Jennafer Strayn wrote to us about a roundabout in Maryville that is causing some problems.
"What drives me crazy is that it seems people don't know how to use a roundabout," she said. "They either come to a complete stop instead of yielding or they don't stop when they need to."
A roundabout is something you'll see quite often if you're driving in Europe, but not necessarily in East Tennessee.
And if you've never used one before, the first couple of times may be a little bit tricky.
Currently there's about a dozen roundabouts in Knox County. And that number is even lower in smaller cities and counties here in East Tennessee.
Mark Nagi, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation explained that roundabouts typically replace four-way intersections to speed up traffic flow.
"Sometimes when a roundabout is put in, it does require more right of way to be accomplished," Nagi said. "But the big thing that you're trying to do is prevent long back-ups in a certain area."
So, how do you properly use one?
Using a roundabout is pretty simple once you know the rules: you should yield to oncoming traffic and turn right.
"That's the big thing when you see those yield signs," Nagi said. "Depending on if there's oncoming traffic or not, that's whether you stop."
If drivers use roundabouts correctly, studies show that they can can cut down on t-bone crashes and head-on collisions, Nagi explained.
So, when in doubt, keep calm, yield, turn right and carry on.