Posted on 09/25/2022 6:42:21 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Some drivers may be confused or intimidated by roundabouts, those circular intersections where all traffic circles to the left until motorists find their exit to the right.
But drivers better get used to them — the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is sold on the improved safety and traffic flow roundabouts provide and expects to install more of them to replace traditional intersections that use traffic signals or stop signs.
The department last week released a study that reviewed 36 roundabouts that had replaced traditional intersections for at least three years. It found that deaths at those locations dropped to just one from three; serious injuries dropped 76%; minor injuries 22%; and possible or unknown severity injuries 70%. Overall, the number of crashes dropped by 9%.
Jeff Bucher, PennDOT’s division chief for highway, design and technology, said the state expected the increased safety numbers. That’s because roundabouts slow down drivers in general and eliminate left turns across traffic that lead to high-impact side crashes.
“The roundabouts are designed so people enter at a slower speed so if there is an accident, it’s usually a minor fender-bender rather than the T-bone accidents you get at traditional intersections,” Mr. Bucher said. “All the turns are right-turn movements, not left turns across traffic.”
The use of modern roundabouts began in the early 1990s and were approved and encouraged by the Federal Highway Administration in the later 1990s. Some states, such as Florida, Washington and Wisconsin, have been leaders in adopting them.
Pennsylvania is about in the middle of the pack on roundabout use, Mr. Bucher said. In addition to those included in the study, another 38 have been installed on state routes and 16 are in the design stage.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Some idiot engineers have fond childhood memories of roundabouts.
They have too much faith in unobservant humans.
The more the powers that be want to emulate Europe (round-abouts, trains, mass transit), the worse things get here.
WE ARE NOT EUROPE, YA FRIGGIN MORONS!
Done right, roundabouts are great, much better than a four-way stop.
The British do it right: cars already in the roundabout have the right of way. Merge in when clear and go around to your exit. If you’re not sure of your exit, you can go around several times until you figure it out without causing anyone else a problem.
The French screw it up: cars entering the circle have the right of way, so in busy times the circle is guaranteed to be grid locked.
The American ones I’ve seen are double screwed up. No one knows who has the right of way plus they paint lines in the circles for the purpose of ... I don’t know the purpose, but it doesn’t work and just creates confusion.
Fire trucks and buses have issues with roundabouts.
I had a friend caught in a Paris round about during rush hour. He went round and round until he noticed he was low on fuel. Spotting a fuel station he managed to get into the fuel station and stopped at the pump. Next a bunch of guys ran out; fueled the car, washed the windshield and changed the tires! One worker leaned in the window and yelled “get back out there, your leading!”
Roundabouts are great, if here in the states we were educated on how to use them. People are unsure when driving. In England for instance some roundabouts have traffic lights because of the amount of traffic flow thru them. They work well if people know the rules. It’s rare to see accidents in Eupope unless a foreigner is confused.
It will be hard to re-educate those who are set in their ways. In Matthew’s NC, there was a shopping center that placed a roundabout, so many accidents they had to remove. You can’t just implement them without education.
My 2 cents
I was a traffic engineer in one of my past lives. Up to a certain volume of traffic, roundabouts are the most efficient way of moving traffic through an intersection. But there is a level of traffic volume where traffic signals become more efficient.
I couldn't find an image to post but here's the idea:
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All one has to do is go try and drive into, and out of, one a Manila’s scary roundabouts in the Philippines. They will make you think twice.
Damn pain in the ass, but still better than toll roads.
Seems a lot of folks in a big hurry these days. I’m usually a couple MPH over and get passed like I’m 20 under. And darting in and out has gotten worse. Apparently the laws of physics aren’t in place any more either.
There’s one near us in Florida and it generally works well. Another was added here in Iowa. It’s on a crossroads where there had been a 4-way Stop. With the Stop Signs the traffic would back up for a mile or so from one direction during commute times. Now it flows much better.
Because of the way the work the naturally favor traffic flow in the direction that carries the most traffic.
States have done a VERY poor job educating the driving public of how they work. Should be a mandatory 10 minute video for every driver at their next license renewal. I know we had nothing about them when I had driver’s ed back in the early 70s.
And I agree with whomever said the multi-lane ones are troubling if you have to change lanes to exit or try to legally exit from a left lane and another driver doesn’t do their mandatory right-lane exit.
I was on a trip to Britain once and got sick of those things.
One after another after another.
And two lane round abouts!
Why do you need a second lane. Who changes lanes in a round about??
diverging diamond interchange. - one is near us. Someone had more time on their hands and wanted to seem sophisticated; is the nicest thing I can say about them.
Visited NJ shore a while back - looks like they’ve spent millions changing traffic circles into huge intersections with stoplights. Dopes.
The good roundabouts have what are called truck aprons, usually a wide ring of pavers or pavement inside the circle. That makes it easier for a large truck to negotiate the roundabout, since it can utilize the apron.
Just come to Carmel, Indiana... our mayor has replaced over 140 intersections with RABs...intent on stomping out all traffic lights.
It’s really a mixed bag of success.
They’ve got them here in Colorado. They’re sooo European. I hate em’.
Since the day that mess in WA opened I have and will always avoid any business in that area. It used to be an OK place to travel through, but not any more.
A four-way yield would rely on drivers knowing to yield to traffic from their right, which in turn requires that all drivers know left from right. That’s too much to ask, at least around here.
For at least a few years in the 90s, Highway 95 going north out of Las Vegas was a divided highway with a speed limit of 60. For several miles, the cross streets had no stop nor yield signs at all. It was amazing to see the cross traffic go sailing right across. I didn’t see any accidents myself, but broken glass (what a former girlfriend used to call “accident dandruff) was not uncommon in the intersections.
The only time I have had to deal with a double diamond interchange was in Las Vegas. I had never seen or heard of one, and I still don’t know how we got through it onto the right road. I haven’t been through Las Vegas in over five years, and I don’t care if I never have to again.
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