18/06/2025
Lately we have been noticing an increase in dangerous driving behavior here in the Algarve especially (but not only) on roundabouts, and it is likely due to an increase of the amount of North American drivers on Portuguese roads, who are likely not as familiar with the proper way to transit on ROUNDABOUTS.
Hopefully, this post will get shared with all of our North American friends and their friends, to make our roads safer to travel on, and help avoid accidents.
The image below, shows a common roundabout, that from a driver's perspective, has two points of entry (Left Lane or Right Lane).
Here is how drivers should use the roundabout:
1. Before the driver arrives at the roundabout, if the intention is to TURN LEFT at the roundabout, ALWAYS ENTER THE ROUNDABOUT USING THE LEFT LANE.
2. Before the driver arrives at the roundabout, if the intention is to "turn back", to make what some would call a U-Turn, to make a 180° Turn, ALWAYS ENTER THE ROUNDABOUT USING THE LEFT LANE.
3. If the driver intends to go STRAIGHT AHEAD at the roundabout, drivers can enter the roundabout using the LEFT LANE OR THE RIGHT LANE.
4. If the driver intends to TURN RIGHT at the roundabout, the driver should ALWAYS USE THE RIGHT LANE.
IMPORTANT! Here are some things drivers should NEVER DO on a roundabout:
1. NEVER EVER, enter a roundabout on the RIGHT LANE with the intention of TURNING LEFT. This means that IF YOU ARE ON THE OUTER LANE of a roundabout, you can NEVER CUT IN FRONT of drivers using the INNER LANE of the roundabout. THIS IS HOW 90% of accidents happen on roundabouts, and it is due to the inexperience of drivers who have not yet learned these very simple ways to transit on the roundabouts.
2. NEVER CHANGE LANES when you are already on the roundabout. If you entered the roundabout on the LEFT LANE, and used the INNER LANE of the roundabout with the intent of going STRAIGHT after leaving the roundabout, DRIVERS MUST EXIT THE ROUNDABOUT BY ENTERING THE LEFT LANE of the road the driver is using to exit. NEVER TRY TO GO FROM THE INNER LANE OF THE ROUNDABOUT, and try to exit on THE RIGHT SIDE LANE of the road used to exit the roundabout.
Hopefully, drivers who are not yet familiar with how to properly use roundabouts can use this post to learn how to use them, and PLEASE SHARE IT with other drivers that could benefit from it.
We will update this post with more information, if anything else occurs, but if people can learn what's been clearly explained here, that will already be a great start.
P.S.
Not related to roundabouts....
If you are on the highway or other two lane roads, ALWAYS USE THE LANE ON THE RIGHT unless you are overtaking another vehicle. Everyone in Portugal knows that the lane on the LEFT is made for speeding (yes this is humor/humour), and it's normally where we attempt to reach warp speed (close to light speed), so please stay on the RIGHT SIDE if you intend to drive slowly, within the speed limit suggestions, and are not overtaking another vehicle. 😉
🇵🇹
