Well I Got Run Into

[VAMike]

First they did away with cloverleafs, then they start building roundabouts all over the place. Strange logic... and dangerous.

A modern roundabout (simple "yield to traffic in the circle", not the crazy designs on old circles with stop lights and stop signs in them) is much less dangerous than a four way stop and has a better throughput (and is cheaper) than a light. The problem is that some people drive like maniacs, regardless of the infrastructure.

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[MT19RANGER]

Roundabouts are actually very efficient except most of the general public doesn't know how to use them. They are putting in more and more in my neck of the woods in Nevada but they didn't make any additional effort to educate people on proper use.

There are more and more being put in my area of Eastern MT and Western ND too along with huge ones for the oil field traffic.
Have helped w/ the flow of traffic and would even be better if people just learned how to use them.

 

[electryon]

I have a few smaller roundabouts built a few years ago and people fly through them. In my opinion they made them to small, the circle portion is not large enough so traffic traveling north and south can hit them at a much higher speed then intended and can almost drive straight through without slowing down. Then you have the people that treat the yield signs as a stop sign.

 

[cujoquan]

First they did away with cloverleafs, then they start building roundabouts all over the place. Strange logic... and dangerous.

Roundabouts are safer than standard intersections - just think about 1) how vehicles can collide in a standard intersection vs. a roundabout (head-on collisions and t-bones vs. side swipes), and 2) how fast vehicles can be going through a standard intersection vs a roundabout

Definitely takes some time for folks to get used to the idea of using them, but once the majority of the population is used to them they are way less anxiety-inducing.

 

[cujoquan]

I have a few smaller roundabouts built a few years ago and people fly through them. In my opinion they made them to small, the circle portion is not large enough so traffic traveling north and south can hit them at a much higher speed then intended and can almost drive straight through without slowing down. Then you have the people that treat the yield signs as a stop sign.

Yeah that definitely sounds more like they put a planter in the middle of a classic intersection vs. an actual redesign

 

[Mokume]

Roundabouts are very effective, provided those using them know the meaning of the word "yield" and are able to perform this simple operation.

 

[Floyd]

Yeah that definitely sounds more like they put a planter in the middle of a classic intersection vs. an actual redesign

That's about it, the design is certainly not new. It still works ok for a town square with a planter, a statue, a fountain, and a park bench, if you play Frogger well enough to make it across.

 

[Floyd]

Roundabouts are very effective, provided those using them know the meaning of the word "yield" and are able to perform this simple operation.

Cloverleafs were very effective too, provided those using them know the meaning of a descending radius curve on the exit.
They are trading them off for traffic lights all over the country.
Go figger!

 

[VAMike]

Cloverleafs were very effective too, provided those using them know the meaning of a descending radius curve on the exit.
They are trading them off for traffic lights all over the country.
Go figger!

I've never seen an interstate swap out a cloverleaf for a traffic light. In other applications (not access controlled) the cloverleaf is a horrible bit of infrastructure that tends to result in people not in cars dying due to high speeds and poor sightlines. I'd certainly like to see more inappropriate cloverleafs ripped out. As a bonus, the at grade intersection is cheaper.

 

[Floyd]

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I've never seen an interstate swap out a cloverleaf for a traffic light. In other applications (not access controlled) the cloverleaf is a horrible bit of infrastructure that tends to result in people not in cars dying due to high speeds and poor sightlines. I'd certainly like to see more inappropriate cloverleafs ripped out. As a bonus, the at grade intersection is cheaper.

Around here there are very few if any, cloverleafs which do not involve at least one limited access highway.
Non- automotive traffic is generally not allowed on cloverleafs associated with interstate highways.

If you come to Illinois... We are in the process of eliminating every single cloverleaf where the interface is of a limited access and a non-limited access roadway, as part of a federal highways renovation project which also now requires an overpass height of 16ft across the entire roadway..

I agree that it is unwise to drive faster than your sightline allows.

I'm not opposed to roundabouts, and I can of course, see a fair correlation between the use of roundabouts and cloverleafs.
Each theoretically facilitates traffic flow without the necessity of traffic lights or crossing lanes of traffic.
Certainly both should , as you say, be used only where appropriate.

Glad to hear your position, and I have no expectation or desire to change it.

 

[Lmood]

First they did away with cloverleafs, then they start building roundabouts all over the place. Strange logic... and dangerous.

Eh, I tend to disagree with that.. roundabouts may seem more dangerous because the majority of folks in the states don't know how to drive in them. There's a reason why roundabouts are all over the world instead of intersections. Many people in my area seem to think that a yield sign means go..

 

[Floyd]

Eh, I tend to disagree with that.. roundabouts may seem more dangerous because the majority of folks in the states don't know how to drive in them. There's a reason why roundabouts are all over the world instead of intersections. Many people in my area seem to think that a yield sign means go..

Good point...
Thing is, they have similar goals and functions... to favor one while eliminating the other just seems strange.
We tend to like what we are used to.
Change is inevitable,but can be dangerous
We should be extra careful during the learning curve.

 

[MSG W]

Good point...
Thing is, they have similar goals and functions... to favor one while eliminating the other just seems strange.
We tend to like what we are used to.
Change is inevitable,but can be dangerous
We should be extra careful during the learning curve.

I drive over a lot of Europe to include England, round a bouts are not the problem, American drivers are the problem

 

[Jeffrey]

Couple years back a driver blew through red light while texting at 45mph, t boned my 2 year old Lincoln and totaled it. Their insurance wanted to give wholesale value of car not replacement value. Told them if I could purchase vehicles wholesale that might be ok, I was very persistent and they ended up seeing it my way. I think they thought I was going to sue them

 

[jsphlynch]

According to his profile, OP is from Carmel, IN, a town unofficially known as Roundabout City, USA, since they have (at least, according to their city website) "more than any other city in the United States." They are so obsessed with roundabouts that a couple years ago they even tried to start building them across the line into the city limits of Indianapolis. (I swear I am not making this up: Indianapolis said they wouldn't give permission, but then Carmel said they were just going to build them anyway. Indianapolis sued, and finally a judge told Carmel that even though they like roundabouts, they can't just go building them in other people's cities).

And while you might think this would make the drivers of Carmel the best in the US at navigating roundabouts, its also the only city where I have personally witnessed an accident in a roundabout (two-lane roundabout, person in the inside lane tried to take an exit, but person in the outside lane was still continuing around).

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