When driving around your local area, you're highly likely to come across a standard, single-lane roundabout. We'll also provide tips on how best to approach each type, helping you to take to this oft-maligned junction like a duck to water. That's why we've created this handy guide introducing the different types of roundabout. Nonetheless, they can still prove a little tricky for the uninitiated-especially given the numerous different types of roundabout you may come across while driving. There's a good reason for this: these circular junctions are proven to be safer than traditional intersections, with far fewer possible collision points. Here in the UK, we have more roundabouts as a proportion of the overall road network than any other nation in the world. Roundabouts never break down either, and the traffic is always flowing in the same direction.Įxcellent inventions all round, really, so long as they are not corrupted by traffic lights.What Are the Different Types of Roundabout? In this regard they infinitely superior to traffic lights, where red-light runners can cause horrendous crashes, and where we all sit waiting for no traffic to pass in the opposite direction. I will have to trawl through many volumes to find it, but I know it was written somewhere that roundabouts were introduced to slow the speed of traffic at junctions (making the junction safer), whilst at the same time assisting the flow of traffic (reducing congestion). In other words, to speed the traffic up at junctions. The point of roundabouts is to ease the traffic flow at junctions by making priority obvious. > The whole point of roundabouts is that they slow traffic at > junctions, so that if there is an accident, the impact speeds > are lower and injuries are reduced. Given the choice between traffic lights and roundabouts, I much prefer roundabouts, even if they do have fences. is, I would venture, preferable to high speed crashes, which would doubtless lead to more speed cameras, or traffic lights on the roundabouts. Of course, slowing down and speeding up again does increase pollution, but the very small extra CO2, etc. I too, was frustrated when these first appeared, but if you think it through, they are safer. A prime example of this is the M25 Leatherhead junction. So, fences are installed to force us to slow down. So you then have cars approaching and going through junctions ate high speed, and if some fool on the roundabout doesn't indicate (it happens!) or changes their mind, you have all the ingredients for a high speed impact. In cases like this, you and I will, given good visiblity, check to see if its clear, whilst slowing down as little as possible (given a clear road, natch). In some cases the road goes straight on with no deviation at all. The problem has arisen where traffic planners have installed roundabouts over junctions that are not your conventional crossroads.
The whole point of roundabouts is that they slow traffic at junctions, so that if there is an accident, the impact speeds are lower and injuries are reduced. Sorry, but I do see the logic behind fences obstructing the view at roundabouts.
Roundabouts vs Traffic Lights - boxsterboy