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The city replaced a 4 way stop with a traffic circle and ever since there’s been a car-totaling collision at least every other month. One leg of the circle is

The city replaced a 4 way stop with a traffic circle and ever since there’s been a car-totaling collision at least every other month. One leg of the circle is fed from a highway off-ramp, with a good portion of folks entering the circle at 150% of the legal limit. Another leg is from a 4 lane road that feeds the highway on-ramp, and those folks are getting amped for highway driving. I’m always nervous in the circle as I can’t count the times I’ve had to quickly brake to avoid being t-boned by some moron who doesn’t understand what a yield sign means. Traffic circles really need a critical mass of drivers that know how to use them academically before they get installed all over town.

wetpaws 2y ago
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tstrimple 2y ago
I'm curious how you get car totaling crashes in a traffic circle. Generally the traffic circles that have been installed around me are all relatively small and greatly cut down on speed going through the intersection. I could absolutely see an increase in fender bender style accidents here, because for some reason how to operate a traffic circle is an impossible mystery to Iowa drivers. But how are cars being totaled? I remember when driving in SoCal, there was a massive traffic circle that I could see people maintaining fairly high speeds through and could see major accidents happening. But everything I see locally would be low speed collisions.
Chilko 2y ago
> Traffic circles really need a critical mass of drivers that know how to use them academically before they get installed all over town. This is why proper driver's licensing & training is so important - in my city & country (Wellington, New Zealand) roundabouts (as well call them) are so common that in some tight intersections they are nothing more than a circle painted on the ground. Everyone knows how to use them, and they end up being very effective.

wetpaws 2y ago

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tstrimple 2y ago

I'm curious how you get car totaling crashes in a traffic circle. Generally the traffic circles that have been installed around me are all relatively small and greatly cut down on speed going through the intersection. I could absolutely see an increase in fender bender style accidents here, because for some reason how to operate a traffic circle is an impossible mystery to Iowa drivers. But how are cars being totaled? I remember when driving in SoCal, there was a massive traffic circle that I could see people maintaining fairly high speeds through and could see major accidents happening. But everything I see locally would be low speed collisions.

Chilko 2y ago

> Traffic circles really need a critical mass of drivers that know how to use them academically before they get installed all over town. This is why proper driver's licensing & training is so important - in my city & country (Wellington, New Zealand) roundabouts (as well call them) are so common that in some tight intersections they are nothing more than a circle painted on the ground. Everyone knows how to use them, and they end up being very effective.