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Safety benefits of roundabouts

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221–230 of 409 posts

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your argument that roundabouts are bad for pedestrians? If so why?

The lack of lights and increase in number of crossings (for non-tiny ones) make them pretty terrible to cross as a pedestrian.

I live in NL which has a very high number of roundabouts and this is not my experience at all. Granted most have priority pedestrian crossings which people do respects.

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#222
post #140
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're right about single vs. 2+ lanes. It doesn't matter how many diagram signs they put up before the roundabout entry, people will NOT understand a roundabout with more than one lane, and under no circumstance will people going straight through realize they have to yield to someone coming from the opposite side who's going 270° around the circle and exiting from the inner lane. Roundabouts are fine if the…

> people will NOT understand a roundabout with more than one lane We have tons of 2-lane ones and everyone understands them…

Honestly, even looking at a picture showing how a 2-lane roundabout works (https://www.epermittest.com/drivers-education/roundabouts), I still can't understand how it works. Assuming 0 is the bottom and 90 is the right, how is it that a person following the inside route from 0 (exiting the left lane at 180) isn't going to get hit by someone following the outside route from 90 (exiting the right lane at 270)? I would almost certainly use it wrong and/or expect to get hit.

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#223
post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our town has loads of them too, and everyone think they understand them. Still accidents are common because people think it's ok to just go straight through by changing lane to inner and then directly exiting without yielding to the ones crossing their path in the outer lane.

At least in the Netherlands its recommended that the two lane roundabouts have mountable curbs specifically to prevent lane changing. The US is unfortunately loth to install any sort of divider more than paint or a feeble plastic post, and less than a jersey barrier.

We have quite a few without curbs too, but they usually have markings for what lane is for what direction and are "skewed" so that you don't normally have to change lanes.

Example: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3z6NZXGdb2HRVtfW7

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#224
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of lights and increase in number of crossings (for non-tiny ones) make them pretty terrible to cross as a pedestrian.

I live in NL which has a very high number of roundabouts and this is not my experience at all. Granted most have priority pedestrian crossings which people do respects.

It's a documented effect of roundabouts that they tend to result in more pedestrian fatalities than other forms of intersection. But it does depend on the design - it's possible to improve pedestrian safety at the cost of traffic throughput. Guess which choice my country made...

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#225
post #140
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're right about single vs. 2+ lanes. It doesn't matter how many diagram signs they put up before the roundabout entry, people will NOT understand a roundabout with more than one lane, and under no circumstance will people going straight through realize they have to yield to someone coming from the opposite side who's going 270° around the circle and exiting from the inner lane. Roundabouts are fine if the…

> people will NOT understand a roundabout with more than one lane We have tons of 2-lane ones and everyone understands them…

I agree, Australian cities seem to think that they solve every traffic issue. There is a double lane less than 200m from my house.

The shitty part about roundabouts is when people allow blocking of the view to the right on the round about so you are unable to see incoming traffic till its almost on the round about.

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your argument that roundabouts are bad for pedestrians? If so why?

The lack of lights and increase in number of crossings (for non-tiny ones) make them pretty terrible to cross as a pedestrian.

Underpasses completely solve it. For small, low-traffic roundabouts, you just need pedestrian crossings like on a normal intersection, preferably with an isle between the opposing traffic lanes.

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#228
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the uncertainty of who is yielding Same we know red light means stop. You make up a rule. In Australia anyone from the right has right of way.

It’s not the same though. Red means stop. It is ambiguous as to who must yield precisely because there is no red light to indicate it. What would the rule be? Your best guess as to the speed and distance of the other driver?

There is no ambiguity in practice because these only happen on T intersections. These rules also apply on low / moderate traffic + intersections with no issues mainly because you are expected to pay attention to the road and not just breeze through every intersection like a maniac.

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your argument that roundabouts are bad for pedestrians? If so why?

The lack of lights and increase in number of crossings (for non-tiny ones) make them pretty terrible to cross as a pedestrian.

Having lived in Poland for a long time - there's no issue mixing roundabouts and pedestrians, if anything they make is super easy - every exit has its own zebra crossing which means people exiting the roundabout have to stop to let you cross, which actually works well with the inherent design of the roundabout, or for really large ones with multiple lanes you just have lights.

Re: Safety benefits of roundabouts

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your argument that roundabouts are bad for pedestrians? If so why?

The lack of lights and increase in number of crossings (for non-tiny ones) make them pretty terrible to cross as a pedestrian.

>The lack of lights and increase in number of crossings (for non-tiny ones) make them pretty terrible to cross as a pedestrian.

This can surely be remedied by having the crossings being raised, acting as speed bumps for the cars and providing a better crossing experience for the pedestrian (or cyclist).

I'm not entirely convinced that the lack of lights would inherently mean that roundabouts are less safe for pedestrians than a signalled intersection - roundabouts remove the concept of running a red, since a car by design has to slow down to navigate the roundabout.

Finally, as a pedestrian, I can cross a roundabout whenever I want to, no beg buttons or waiting for green required.

Do you have any statistics on their claimed lower safety?

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