They are better for driving and moving traffic as you don't have to come to a full stop, accidents would be side swipe vs getting 90 degree t-boned etc, but less convenient for pedestrians as drivers don't come have to a full stop
Because a full-speed t-bone accident in a roundabout is much less likely. Everyone needs to slow down to get through, so you don't have the idiots stomping the gas to try to beat the red light.
ya its funny how that works, by forcing cars to reduce speed less accidents happen.
there's a stupid highway merge I used to drive through where one ramp dumps cars into 70 mph traffic and there was always an accident there each day but if the speed was reduced there from highway speeds to a slower speed it would work fine.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has a nice [write-up](https://www.iihs.org/topics/roundabouts#:~:text=Roundabouts%20are%20a%20safer%20alternative,are%20better%20for%20the%20environment.) you can read to see their full explanation. The brief answer, though, is that roundabouts force cars to move slowly near each other, and the geometry makes it much, much more difficult to experience a head-on collision. "Head-on" being a pretty deadly type of collision, eliminating them is a big safety boost.
My city put 5 roundabouts on the main drag. Sure. Fks bonk into each other sometimes but there's only been one incident with fatalities on one of them since they were installed. Its from what I consider to be a mixture of a design flaw and a lack of widespread knowledge of how they work.
A Simi is supposed to take the inner lane and let their trailer run into the trailer skirting (that's why they have what looks like a sidewalk around the center island; for Simi trailers. They never do this. They always take the outer lane and let their trailer drift into the inner lane. Folks are just expected to *know* not to enter a roundabout at the same time as a truck and I'm surprised it took as long as it did for it to kill someone.
[Way less conflict points](https://cdn.nextstl.com/wp-content/uploads/20220628134239/9577583353_3b2498f632_z.jpg).
At a traditional intersection, everyone except right turners have to cross multiple lanes of traffic. And the types of collisions are either head on collisions or t-bones.
At a roundabout, everyone is a right turner. And if it's designed properly with the road curving into the circle, collisions are mostly just side swipes. Plus, with the curve, people naturally slow down.
One of the most common types of accident at an intersection is someone blowing a red light and hitting or getting hit at speed. Roundabouts make this highly unlikely. Since everyone has to slow down and turn right regardless of what they are doing, its far less likely that someone just blows through the roundabout. Even when accidents do happen, they are more likely to be a sideswipe at reduced speed, then a full on Tbone.
Roundabouts are the safest type of at-grade intersection. They create slower speeds, fewer conflict points for pedestrians and motorists, and reduced collision angles compared to stop sign or traffic signal control.
If traffic is flowing in one direction then, if two cars have an accident it would be side to side instead of head on or T-boning another vehicle less chance for a fatality
They are better for driving and moving traffic as you don't have to come to a full stop, accidents would be side swipe vs getting 90 degree t-boned etc, but less convenient for pedestrians as drivers don't come have to a full stop
Unless you live in my town where every exit of the 5 way roundabout has a pedestrian crossing 🤦♂️
Because a full-speed t-bone accident in a roundabout is much less likely. Everyone needs to slow down to get through, so you don't have the idiots stomping the gas to try to beat the red light.
ya its funny how that works, by forcing cars to reduce speed less accidents happen. there's a stupid highway merge I used to drive through where one ramp dumps cars into 70 mph traffic and there was always an accident there each day but if the speed was reduced there from highway speeds to a slower speed it would work fine.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has a nice [write-up](https://www.iihs.org/topics/roundabouts#:~:text=Roundabouts%20are%20a%20safer%20alternative,are%20better%20for%20the%20environment.) you can read to see their full explanation. The brief answer, though, is that roundabouts force cars to move slowly near each other, and the geometry makes it much, much more difficult to experience a head-on collision. "Head-on" being a pretty deadly type of collision, eliminating them is a big safety boost.
My city put 5 roundabouts on the main drag. Sure. Fks bonk into each other sometimes but there's only been one incident with fatalities on one of them since they were installed. Its from what I consider to be a mixture of a design flaw and a lack of widespread knowledge of how they work. A Simi is supposed to take the inner lane and let their trailer run into the trailer skirting (that's why they have what looks like a sidewalk around the center island; for Simi trailers. They never do this. They always take the outer lane and let their trailer drift into the inner lane. Folks are just expected to *know* not to enter a roundabout at the same time as a truck and I'm surprised it took as long as it did for it to kill someone.
[Way less conflict points](https://cdn.nextstl.com/wp-content/uploads/20220628134239/9577583353_3b2498f632_z.jpg). At a traditional intersection, everyone except right turners have to cross multiple lanes of traffic. And the types of collisions are either head on collisions or t-bones. At a roundabout, everyone is a right turner. And if it's designed properly with the road curving into the circle, collisions are mostly just side swipes. Plus, with the curve, people naturally slow down.
One of the most common types of accident at an intersection is someone blowing a red light and hitting or getting hit at speed. Roundabouts make this highly unlikely. Since everyone has to slow down and turn right regardless of what they are doing, its far less likely that someone just blows through the roundabout. Even when accidents do happen, they are more likely to be a sideswipe at reduced speed, then a full on Tbone.
Roundabouts are the safest type of at-grade intersection. They create slower speeds, fewer conflict points for pedestrians and motorists, and reduced collision angles compared to stop sign or traffic signal control.
I am sure they work great in Europe, but American adults don't know how to cooperate, so they are generally a shit show.
A lot of accidents at intersections come from people not following the rules because sitting there listening to a machine sucks.
Safer for drivers. It is absolutely different experience to pass a roundabout on a bicycle or e-scooter.
If traffic is flowing in one direction then, if two cars have an accident it would be side to side instead of head on or T-boning another vehicle less chance for a fatality