Roundabouts

[Whosyer]

So the wife and I decide to cruise into Valpo on Sunday to get some chow, and there it is, the roundabout. Did I mention I was turning left, requiring me to go 3/4 of the way around the thing? Did I mention it was Sunday ? Oh....and the time, yeah, about 15 minutes after church let out. Ever tried to navigate one of those things with about 50 blue haired lil ole ladies on their way to lunch? I won't even get started on all the one way streets in that town. On the bright side, the chow at Margarita's is awesome.

 

[jd42k]

I've actually seem people turn left into the roundabout thus going the wrong way. It takes a while for folks to learn how to drive em.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I dont like them nor usually the cities they are in either.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

All the roads in Hell are nothing but RoundAbouts.

 

[goinggreyfast]

No biggie folks. One would probably spend more time if it were a 4 way stop. But that's just my .

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Here in Michiana, the roundabouts aren't the problem, just the inexperienced who don't know how to use them...

They are popping up all over the place but not much education going on for those in need.

 

[printcraft]

How about folks that make a full stop on one when they are marked "Yield" with no oncoming traffic?
I can tell they paid attention in drivers ed.

 

[pjcalla]

No biggie folks. One would probably spend more time if it were a 4 way stop. But that's just my .

I agree.

Here in Michiana, the roundabouts aren't the problem, just the inexperienced who don't know how to use them...

They are popping up all over the place but not much education going on for those in need.

I've been behind people that STOP at each street going in/out of the roundabout. Talk about an accident waiting to happen.

 

[goinggreyfast]

I've been behind people that STOP at each street going in/out of the roundabout. Talk about an accident waiting to happen.

Just as much of a problem is those who take up the entire roundabout (both lanes) and you can't tell where they are getting off. Hard to tell if you need to stop for their oncoming backside or not.

 

[rjstew317]

I find traffic moves alot faster and smoother then it did before we had them up here.

 

[chraland51]

Unfortunately the number of roundabouts is going to increase in the future to replace 4-way stop or signalized intersections. Cities and counties really like them and think that they will solve a myriad of traffic problems in a less costly and safer manner. They are all over European countries and you know how much we are being pushed to become my Europeanized. I just keep thinking of the Chevy Chase European Vacation movie where he got in a roundabout, but could not get out of it. Personally, I really dislike the smaller roundabouts that are constructed without much additional right-of-way being acquired. They are so tight to navigate that it will become a bumpcar game to navigate around the smaller ones.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I love the roundabouts in Hendricks county. They really improved traffic flow, and it's just about impossible to T-bone someone at high speed in a roundabout.

All good things.

Some people don't know how to drive them, or take liberties when driving them, but there are arrows on signs and arrows on the road, and if you can't follow arrows, should you really be driving?

 

[littletommy]

I've actually seem people turn left into the roundabout thus going the wrong way. It takes a while for folks to learn how to drive em.

I've done that! I did it on purpose, traffic was almost non existent, and I was like "WTF"??? I just said screw it and went for it.

Everytime I go around it now I always say "look kids, Buckingham palace", like in Eurpean vacation. (my wife doesn't think it's funny)

 

[indykid]

Going to work in the morning, I had about 8 roundabouts that used to be stop signs. Since there is almost no traffic as oh-dark-thirty the roundabouts knocked several minutes off my drive time and increase my fuel economy by about 2 or 3 MPG!!!

Some might say that in the dark of night, you don't really have to stop at a 4 way since you can see there are no cars, but I would recommend not trying that in Carmel. They have very little crime and have an amazing ability to make those white patrol cars invisible!!!

 

[Bigdee06]

I wish they would start replacing more four way stops with these. When you use them properly it is safer and faster than a regular intersection. The trick is getting people used to using them, its not hard but it goes against everything that Americans have been accustomed to while driving.

 

[darkkevin]

i listen to a valpo radio station more often than not and the morning dj's sign off note everyday is "remember folks, DO NOT STOP IN THE ROUNDABOUT!" I agree with most here that they are a great concept, but american's just don't understand them and therefore make them a great mess!

 

[Loar]

I heard the Carmel mayor on the radio a few weeks ago talking about the roundabouts and he said there has been a pretty drastic increase in injury collisions in those intersections that now have roundabouts.

Also, he said that they build them with something relatively tall in the middle of the roundabout that the driver can't see over. This forces the driver to actually look to their left instead of trying to look across the roundabout and pulling out in front of someone.

It was actually pretty interesting.

 

[AmericanBob]

i work in carmel so i have to deal with lots of them on a daily basis. during construction it sucked. now, i really like them. traffic flows a hell of a lot better. i will say though, the one they put in front of carmel st. vincent hospital is now the most dangerous intersection in all of carmel. i've seen more blue hairs/ out-of towners turn the wrong direction at that round about than all the others combined.

 

[NWIeng]

I find traffic moves alot faster and smoother then it did before we had them up here.

I work for a firm who's actually designed these.

Everyone's sentiments here are spot on.

Yes, people unfamiliar with them absolutely hate them. Not to say that these haters are unintelligent, but they do take some getting used to if you're not familiar with driving through them. Many people hate them even actually they're installed until a few weeks or moths of exposure.

After the initial 'growing pains', many users love them and find them much more efficient than 4-way stops (which they are).

One other thing to consider is that they drastically reduce both the amount of accidents and the severity of accidents that still do occur due to the forced reduction in vehicle speed(this pertains more for roundabouts that take the place of a traffic light, not so much stop sign controlled intersection, but still there a bit as well). A standard 4-leg traffic-signalized has something like 32 'points of conflict' which are points where two driving paths intersect, thus creating the potential for an accident.

With a roundabout, the number of 'points of conflict' is reduced by 75% the instant that the roundabout is operational.

I'm not completely on the roundabout train, though through work I've come to realize that they certainly have their place as an intersection solution and are extremely under-utilized in the United States. Sadly one thing that we should incorporate from Europe/Australia that we haven't gotten on board with. One of the very few things I would make that statement for.

And if you can't tell, the 'eng' in my forum name is short for Engineer...

 

[IndyMedic]

I like them. I do agree that some people just don't get it and slow things down, but these people also slow down 4 way stops. For the most part I think they keep traffic moving, and they are much safer than a traditional intersection.