RV accident at a Roundabout.

[CavemanCharlie]

This accident took place in Worthington, MN not to far away from me. I heard that the man driving had a hart attack but, I don't know for sure. I hope the link works.

https://www.facebook.com/tina.williams.942145/videos/1564595816932732/

[azrving]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Hwy monies were allotted so HWY 260 between I-17 and Cottonwood is being widened .....2 lanes east & west bound. Roughly 15 mile section will go for 1 lane each direction with a couple of short passing lanes and be 2 full lanes each direction----divided hwy.
Excellent! Whoo-Hoo


Hold your horses.......7 round-a-bouts are being built also.

Had to do something with the monies being allocated.

Maybe they have enough dirt to bury the moron next to use here at the Thousand Trails blm spot who runs his open frame generator from 6:30 AM until midnight.

[wowens79]

They've started putting them in where I live, and they are the best thing. They really help with traffic flow.

[Mortimer_Brewst]

dodge guy wrote:
They put a roundabout on a rural road out by me that is a heavily traveled North/South route. well they made it so tight that semis cannot negotiate it. and there was no need for it, because the intersection it was put in doesn't see that much side road traffic!

Are you talking about the one on Rte 47? That would be a case of the state being economical (cheap) and buying the minimal amount of land required for a roundabout. I believe the reason it was put in was to reduce backups on Rte 47 caused by the stop signs which were there previously. From what I have seen traffic flow has improved.

dodge guy wrote:
You should see the new ridiculous interchanges they now have for expressways with the lanes switching sides over the bridge. completely ridiculous!

I assume you are referring to a Diverging Diamond Interchange. Here’s an explanation of how they work and their potential advantages.

[rhagfo]

The biggest issue in the US is lack of familiarity with their use.
Most in our area are yield on entry,the other is use of turn signals help (this from DD in Ireland) in the US one would have left turn until taking exit, then right (in Ireland just the opposite as right drive).
In the US I have watched drivers wait until the circle was almost totally clear. with the speeds involved you don't need much space. Loved them in Ireland just run clockwise not counterclockwise.

[wa8yxm]

With very few well marked exceptions (Mostly tunnels and a few bridges) no law that I know of.. of course I'm not a legal expert.

Safety.. Yes. there is a very SLIGHT risk

However There is a RISK anytime you do anyting.. The greatrest risk has been elimiated (Blow out causing gas build up and explosion) by DSI systems which sense the blow out and shut off and lock out.

The next danger is Fridge fire. and if it's goind to happen I would MUCH rather it happen on the way to an FMCA rally (As an example) totaling my 100,000 base sticker price RV than say at the FMCA rally where the fire spreads to the 1,000,000 plus base sticker Prevost next to me.. And I'm sure my insurance company will like not having to pay for the neighbor's RV as well.

[Mortimer_Brewst]

jfkmk wrote:

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
Hopefully the driver and any passengers of the motor home are okay.
Roundabouts in general are more efficient and safer. As with anything new, there is a short learning curve.

Roundabouts are nothing new at all. Where I grew up in North Jersey, we had them on one particular road since the 50s or 60s, but they were called circles. At one point, some time in the 80s, they did away eith them as they were too dangerous. Funny to see them make a comeback.

I didn’t phrase that very well. By new I was referring to drivers that aren’t familiar with or “new” to roundabouts.

[dodge_guy]

They put a roundabout on a rural road out by me that is a heavily traveled North/South route. well they made it so tight that semis cannot negotiate it. and there was no need for it, because the intersection it was put in doesn't see that much side road traffic!

You should see the new ridiculous interchanges they now have for expressways with the lanes switching sides over the bridge. completely ridiculous!

[valhalla360]

jfkmk wrote:

Roundabouts are nothing new at all. Where I grew up in North Jersey, we had them on one particular road since the 50s or 60s, but they were called circles. At one point, some time in the 80s, they did away eith them as they were too dangerous. Funny to see them make a comeback.

The design and operation of the old traffic circles was drastically different and cause major issue.
- Modern roundabouts are designed to limit speed thru them. Old traffic circles often could be taken at high speeds.
- Modern roundabouts yield on entry. Many traffic circles were so large they included yield within the circle.

They really are a different animal.

[Bumpyroad]

very confusing in Italy/Switzerland. one country had entering traffic yield, other vice versa.:)
not so bad when only one lane (wide) terrible if dual lanes
bumpy

[jfkmk]

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
Hopefully the driver and any passengers of the motor home are okay.
Roundabouts in general are more efficient and safer. As with anything new, there is a short learning curve.

Roundabouts are nothing new at all. Where I grew up in North Jersey, we had them on one particular road since the 50s or 60s, but they were called circles. At one point, some time in the 80s, they did away eith them as they were too dangerous. Funny to see them make a comeback.

[valhalla360]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I heard that the man driving had a hart attack

Show me an intersection design that works well when the driver is going thru a heart attack. :S

Reality is roundabouts used in appropriate places are great. Even if you are unfamiliar because of the low speeds, they tend to have fewer crashes and the crashes you do get tend to be minor fender benders.

People get nervous because they are different. Reality is they are very simple to drive:
- Single Lane Roundabouts: Look to your left on approaching. If you have a gap, go. Otherwise wait for a gap. Once in, proceed until you reach your exit.
- Multi Lane Roundabout: Approach in the same lane as if it was a normal intersection (ie: if you are turning left, enter in the left lane). Otherwise it's pretty much the same.

This was about 15yrs ago, the first big roundabout in Michigan and I was in the Traffic Department. We were all sure it was going to fail, so when they opened it and there was a web cam, we all gathered around to see the carnage. After about 15minutes, we were convinced it wasn't fully open as there were no backups, so we sat an intern down to count cars. A couple hours later we totaled up the numbers and it was carrying 5,000 cars per hour with no backups. I only know of 3 signalized intersections that come close to that volume of traffic and backups & delays are substantial at all 3.

This is not to say a poorly designed roundabout won't be a problem but the vast majority of complaints are people just not comfortable with something new.

[path1]

I took drivers test in my state and test had several questions about those roundabouts. Common since was not one of the answers, so I missed one. Got home and looked them up and here is what I learned...
More and more places are going to them; Roundabouts have many more accidents, but much much lower injuries (or worse) because of speed involed.

[Mortimer_Brewst]

Hopefully the driver and any passengers of the motor home are okay.
Roundabouts in general are more efficient and safer. As with anything new, there is a short learning curve.

[Old-Biscuit]

Hwy monies were allotted so HWY 260 between I-17 and Cottonwood is being widened .....2 lanes east & west bound. Roughly 15 mile section will go for 1 lane each direction with a couple of short passing lanes and be 2 full lanes each direction----divided hwy.
Excellent! Whoo-Hoo


Hold your horses.......7 round-a-bouts are being built also.

Had to do something with the monies being allocated.

[seaeagle2]

According to my Australian buddy, they have pretty much eliminated 4 way stops in Australia, either 2 way, or building roundabouts.