PennDOT following ‘roundabout’ way to improve road safety

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | September 24, 2022 | Ed Blazina

[T.B. Yoits]

Unknown location: driver gets air driving through roundabout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFV57kkjXTI

[gitmo]

There is one near me that a full-sized vehicle cannot navigate without going over the curb. It really fouls up traffic as cars come to a stop trying to make the turn and finally realizing they’re going to have to pull up on the curb to make the turn.

[Windcatcher]

There’s one near me here in PA but I’ve never tried it. Maybe I’ll decide to go that way one day just to educate myself on them. I checked it out on Google street view and it looks like it’s a LOT smaller than those infamous circles I’ve had to drive through in NJ.

[Vermont Lt]

We have a seven entrance roundabout in the next town over. It was called the “most dangerous intersection in America.”

https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/east-longmeadow-rotary-still-a-dangerous-intersection-drivers-say/

Rotaries are nice if people follow the rules. I had to drive through that thing every day for years. I learned that when people don’t follow the rules, it can have bad outcomes.

[T.B. Yoits]

There's a whole YouTube channel dedicated to incidents at a Milwaukee roundabout:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MilwaukeeRoundabout/videos

[T.B. Yoits]

Seeing all these videos with cars going airborne through traffic circles points to the need to place a giant granite stone in the center to stop anything from getting through.

That's going to cost a lot.

[Windcatcher]

Wow. Almost as bad as the can opener bridge.

[Silentgypsy]

The right-turn ramp concept does sound safer. Do you have an idea of the cost difference between the types?

[T.B. Yoits]

The right-turn ramp concept does sound safer. Do you have an idea of the cost difference between the types?

My understanding is that the real estate needed is the biggest factor, not the grading, substrate, curbing, and paving.

[minnesota_bound]

They do take up a lot more space and as far as I can tell will create more accidents.

Photo of roundabout.
https://streets.mn/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/07Are-Roundabouts-Safer_535.jpg

Here is one by my old high school in Crystal, MN. I just noticed it earlier this year on a map so it must have been built not long ago. It looks like they have removed a house on the right. I bet many accidents have happened there.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Douglas+Dr+N,+Crystal,+MN/@45.0035566,-93.3606001,406m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x52b3341a5d149891:0x69ce397bf717688a!8m2!3d45.0271346!4d-93.3600922?hl=en

[T.B. Yoits]

I think they could be safer. I posted links to videos of the few times where drivers went straight through them. Some were under the influence, some were police pursuits.

It's a mere fraction of the videos online of cars plowing through intersections that have traffic lights.

I think they need pillars or dragon's teeth to stop cars from going airborne over the top or driving straight through.