I was interested to read the article by Hunter Wells called ‘Please do drive merrily round our roundabouts' (The Weekend Sun, December 11) about roundabout behaviour.

A quote was made that 'the vast majority of Tauranga people are pretty good when it comes to behaviour on roundabouts”.

'Behaviour”, maybe yes, but knowledge and application of the roundabout rules - a definite huge fail.

In fact, my observations suggest far more than 70 per cent of Tauranga drivers drive straight through without signalling. Maybe 70 per cent signal left when only turning off at the first exit, but for all other cases, the percentage of drivers complying with the roundabout rules would probably be less than 10 per cent. The rules require that, immediately before exiting a roundabout, a left signal is used.The right-turn signal (and ‘no signal' if going straight through), before the final left signal, is far less important to the smooth operation of roundabouts than the final left signal.

Why does the left signal seem so difficult for the majority of motorists to get into the habit of doing?

Left signals are the actions which enable drivers further round the roundabout to move into the roundabout earlier than they would otherwise be able to do if there was no left signal. The result: roundabouts operate far better, with less congestion - and no need for council to frequently consider changing roundabouts to lights-controlled intersections.

N Hall, Papamoa.