Luke Carpenter, Bainbridge Island Fire Department operations chief, remembers well the encounter he had at the island's roundabout a few months ago.

With his emergency vehicle's sirens blasting, Carpenter was headed south on Madison Avenue toward High School Road. Meanwhile, a woman traveling east on High School Road approached the roundabout and arrived at the same time as Carpenter.

The woman looked at him, entered the circle and stopped before the next exit, causing Carpenter to consider whether to stop himself or climb the inside curb.

Some cities launch education campaigns to help drivers figure out how to use roundabouts. Lacey and Olympia created such a program after they began building roundabouts and saw the confusion some drivers were having. Lacey's Web site links to "Driving Modern Roundabouts," a 10-minute video produced by the two cities and the Washington Department of Transportation.