Very true, swissbob. I lived in Spain for a while and the urban motorway near Malaga is one of the most dangerous and accident ridden stretches of road in the whole country. The majority of the drivers involved are foreign and many have just picked up cars from the airport.
Just to stir some conversation: regardless of the brand, price or color of a car, turn signals are just a useless options, especially on roundabouts. I recently moved into an apartment with a roundabout underneath my balcony; I lost count on the amount of accidents I have witnessed in just 8 weeks. Main cause, not using turn signals; it simply amazes me!
I have to say this irritates me too. I'm waiting to get onto a roundabout and I have no idea whether the car who is zipping around at 50 kph is going to come off before my exit (meaning I can get on) or is going to continue to go around. And sometimes you think they are going to come off since they're in the outer lane so you pull out onto the roundabout and then they beep you and flash their lights for not being able to read their thoughts.
Well to be fair, maybe your expectations are just too high. I think wherever you go, the locals think that their country's people are horrible drivers. Greek, Italian, Kiwi, Mexican...etc....hardly any country can claim that their drivers are really good behind the wheel. (maybe the Germans)
Face it, driving, especially in a city, is a nerve wracking thing for some and many people can't handle it and thus make poor and unsafe decisions on the road...its a human thing, not a Swiss thing
The Swiss are also confused as to which turn signal to use when indicating they are leaving the roundabout. 90% of the time they show the opposite flasher to the direction they are going.
How many countries have driver training which is as long or rigorous as the Swiss or a driving test which is as hard? They are pretty good at most other aspects of driving, its just roundabouts and signalling where I have noticed severe deficiencies.
I didn't do the driving test here, but aren't they taught here not to indicate when approaching a roundabout, but to indicate when they want to take an exit? This would explain a lot.
Hmmm... Its just occured to me that they must think we're the bad drivers for unecesserily using our indicators on roundabouts. So when I'm indicating left to go all the way around, I'm telling other drivers that I'm coming off at the next exit
If you are indicating left, they are probably asking themselves what nutter is that who thinks he can drive on to the roundabout statue.
I know what you are getting at. I learned the same way when I learned to drive a million years ago. I believe though, that by now, the rules have changed on the whole continent to be as Nathu described above. Makes no sense to me but that's the way it is.