Tricky roundabouts have us going in circles

With the world all a-buzz over the infant Prince George Alexander Louis, the cutest product to come forth from Great Britain, our friend across the sea, I wonder if you know about another British/European creation that is, alas, much less adorable.
If you’ve traveled in Europe, you’ve probably encountered the circular intersections known as roundabouts. Less common in the United States, their numbers are nevertheless growing as we learned recently on a road trip through Fernley, Nev. (home of the Wigwam Restaurant Casino; Motto: “We have it all”) enroute over Highway 50 toward Colorado.
It was there we encountered our first experience with a roundabout. Luckily, Fernley is in the middle of nowhere so the only observer looking on at our confusion was possibly a cow. As soon as we entered that circular traffic aberration, my husband and I both reacted identically (I blame this on nearly 40 years of marriage) by intelligently uttering, “What the …”
With approximately four exits zinging off in various directions, we circled the roundabout a couple of times before realizing we were supposed to actually get OFF this vehicular merry-go-round and, with luck, be headed in the proper direction. Admittedly, it took a few tries.
Now there are actual movies where comical incidents involving roundabouts and staring actors such as Chevy Chase leave you chortling at the poor sucker stuck on a roundabout. Yes, very funny. Until you’ve encountered one.
The thing about our combined roundabout experiences is that they frequently occur at the end of a 12-hour drive when we’re exhaustedly searching for our hotel. Suddenly we’re flung onto a circular motorway with numerous vehicles traveling the approximate speed of sound, searching for the proper exit to our expensive pre-paid hotel room in an area where civilization apparently hasn’t made an appearance, and we’re a good hour past the cancellation deadline. No such thing as throwing in the towel and heading off to a respectable exit where one can actually see one’s destination.
Created, purportedly, to make intersections safer and more efficient for drivers, researching this disastrous turn of traffic events produced alarming pieces of information masquerading as “advice” from various state departments of transportation. For example: “The center of a modern roundabout provides a visual barrier across the intersection to the drivers entering it. This functions to assist the drivers into focusing only on the traffic coming toward them in the path of the circle (right in clockwise flow of traffic, and left in anti-clockwise flow).”
WHAT??? “Visual barrier?” Ummm … isn’t it the main goal of driving to have NO visual barriers? Even weirder is when the center or “hub” of the roundabout contains large pieces of art to create further “visual barriers.”
Or perhaps this is better: “Roundabouts are designed to accommodate vehicles of all sizes, including emergency vehicles, buses, farm equipment and semitrucks with trailers. Oversize vehicles and vehicles with trailers may straddle both lanes while driving through a roundabout.”
Whoa, Nellie!! FARM EQUIPMENT? Buses, emergency vehicles and SEMITRUCKS with TRAILERS? Remember, numerous vehicles are churning rapidly about in a circle with you hoping to high heaven you’re in the proper lane. Oh, wait. Straddle BOTH lanes? I mean, why not just post a sign on your windshield that says, “Kill me now!” 
And can you say TRUCK APRON? Here’s a sunny tidbit: “Many roundabouts are also designed with a truck apron, a raised section of pavement around the central island that acts as an extra lane for large vehicles. The back wheels of the oversize vehicle can ride up on the truck apron so the truck can easily complete the turn, while the raised portion of concrete discourages use by smaller vehicles.” Discourages? Oh, yes, discouraged isn’t the half of it. I’d sooner toss a lighted match into my gas tank.
But I leave you with this: “Because large vehicles may need extra room to complete their turn in a roundabout, drivers should remember never to drive next to large vehicles in a roundabout.”
Coming soon to a roadway near you: the roundabout. And the cure for the roundabout? That’s right; your own personal sign in the windshield: “Kill me now.”