03-07-2017, 09:11 PM
This isn't inherent to roundabouts, of course, and optimistically this will improve as motorists in the Region acclimate to roundabouts, but I don't think it's accurate to say "possibly failing to yield drivers." I would say that the majority of motorists around here do not yield to people on foot as they should. I know that this probably still "only" equates to a short wait to cross in most cases, but it's nerve-racking. It's my thinking that we need to pay attention to not only objective safety, but also perceived safety. If we're trying to encourage people to get around by different modes of transport (I don't know if we are, but we usually say so), the perception of safety is important, too. And convenience.
Again, though, that's not really inherent to roundabouts. People on foot do have the right of way. Maybe that should be enforced.
"The same things that make roundabouts safe for drivers make them safer for pedestrians...Specifically, there's only one place to look for cars to be coming from, pedestrians will see them, even if drivers aren't looking or yielding. And relatively low speeds mean that collisions which do happen are relatively minor, compared with a signalized intersection."
I didn't think that speeds were slower in a roundabout. My understanding was that it was the angle of collisions between vehicles that made them less severe, not the speeds. Most people on foot struck by cars in intersections are struck by turning vehicles- it doesn't seem likely that a vehicle making (say) a right in a signalized intersection with a relatively tight corner would be traveling slower than a vehicle making a right in a roundabout.
Again, though, that's not really inherent to roundabouts. People on foot do have the right of way. Maybe that should be enforced.
"The same things that make roundabouts safe for drivers make them safer for pedestrians...Specifically, there's only one place to look for cars to be coming from, pedestrians will see them, even if drivers aren't looking or yielding. And relatively low speeds mean that collisions which do happen are relatively minor, compared with a signalized intersection."
I didn't think that speeds were slower in a roundabout. My understanding was that it was the angle of collisions between vehicles that made them less severe, not the speeds. Most people on foot struck by cars in intersections are struck by turning vehicles- it doesn't seem likely that a vehicle making (say) a right in a signalized intersection with a relatively tight corner would be traveling slower than a vehicle making a right in a roundabout.