Speaking of roundabouts

[TrentonMakes]

Do you like them?  As a driver and/or as a cyclist?

They do a really great job of reducing severe crashes - you still get fender benders but cars don't get T-boned when some drunk driving 60 mph blows a red light.

I'm OK with a single lane roundabout on a bike, but once they get bigger than that they're pretty daunting.  (we don't have multilane modern roundabouts here, just a lot of old school circles which I avoid like the plague when I'm on a bike).

New York State is nuts for roundabouts - I've heard at conferences/presentations that if you are evaluating intersection improvements at a state highway intersection in New York, you are required to either propose a roundabout, or explain in significant detail why it's infeasible at that location.

The following three images (from the Albany area) include a total of 14 roundabouts, 12 on major state highways.  All of them were built in the last 10-20 years.

[Road Runner]

There is only one in my city that I am aware of.  I ride through it on my usual city street ride.  It has been here for at least 60 years, yet drivers still don't seem to understand who has the right of way.  

[Kzoo]

I like them and am amazed by drivers that are confused by them.  2 years ago a couple were added to my road about 7 miles south.  A sheriff's deputy friend told me the accident rate for those 2 very busy intersection has dropped to all most nothing and those that are there are minor fender benders.

#yieldleft

[Road Runner]

I think if we had a lot more of them, it would be great.  But when it is just one or two in an entire city, people get confused.  Not everyone is qualified to be on Jeopardy!  

[Kzoo]

9 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I think if we had a lot more of them, it would be great.  But when it is just one or two in an entire city, people get confused.  Not everyone is qualified to be on Jeopardy!  

I'm not qualified to be on Jeopardy but I can figure out when to merge and when to yield.  My goodness, the traffic is only coming from one direction.

 

[JerrySTL]

I lived in England for 4 years and got very use to them. The city where I now live in Illinois has had one roundabout for over 50 years. It's fun to see people who must be driving around one for the first time ever. Many nearby cities are building them.

[Road Runner]

2 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I'm not qualified to be on Jeopardy but I can figure out when to merge and when to yield.  My goodness, the traffic is only coming from one direction.

From my experience (I ride through one almost daily), people seem to assume that cars that enter from the opposite direction are probably going straight and not remaining in the circle to make a left turn.  I know it is hard to understand, but people who never or almost never see a roundabout can be a bit confused.  People are also confused by four-way stops.  

[Mr. Silly]

Roundabouts are great when 95% of the traffic goes one way and only 5% goes perpendicular.   There's no need to mess with waiting at a traffic light with no one going through.  

I am not real comfortable going through a roundabout on a bike.  I don't feel welcome.  I don't encounter them often while riding though.  With the one I do see sometimes, I just close my eyes and go for it.

[Road Runner]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Silly said:

I am not real comfortable going through a roundabout on a bike.  I don't feel welcome.  I don't encounter them often while riding though.  With the one I do see sometimes, I just close my eyes and go for it.

I do pretty well on my local roundabout which is fairly small.  The cars slow down and I can fly through, cutting the circle to almost a straight line.  The cars are never able to match my speed.  So far.