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  • Ingomike

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    Not sure about the cheaper insurance rates, from my understanding there are more accidents in roundabouts than in traditional intersections, they just tend to less severe with lower injuries/fatalities. And with the way cars are designed now even minor accidents can cause major damage to the vehicles.
    The first thing the insurance company wants to know is your address and the address where you work, it is called community rating and the actuaries know the risks in every area and the costs of accidents in those areas. As I have been told by those in the industry head on collisions are the most costly accidents to cover, roundabouts do not have them often and when they do it is slow speeds. Roundabouts have a lot of low cost side swipes, so the accident numbers can be higher.

    In the case of Carmel it had 31 and 431 with high speed signalized control that were dangerous in the 80’s in addition to the normal stoplight accidents. Fishers will be getting better with the new 37…
     

    Ingomike

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    As for fatalities it's hard to compare a single town/city to a nationwide average. What was Carmel's rate prior to the roundabouts being installed? That would be IMO a better metric to use.
    Not really going to work well because of growth, in the 90’s before roundabouts the population was under 20,000 and now over 100.000 so totally different situation…
     

    rooster

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    Roundabouts are heaven for over aggressive drivers who never yield, don't slow, change lanes in the roundabout, and think that they always have the right of way and are the world's best driver.

    I bet you like it when stop lights are timed to stop traffic doing the speed limit too don’t ya.
     

    Tactically Fat

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    I live between most of the surface street roundabouts in Greenwood. And it's been amazing.

    They're going to build another even closer to me next year. NOT looking forward to what it'll do for traffic in & through our 'hood, though - as it's one of the only ones with a cut-through that joins the two roads that'll be closed for construction.

    But it'll be so so so much better when it's done.
     

    Ark

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    I do prefer the roundabouts. They're much better in those 80/20 intersections where the vast majority of traffic is on one axis.

    Yes you have to be more attentive and assertive, but most of the time you can avoid stopping, which is huge.

    There are plenty of people who don't know how to use them, but there are clearly tons of people who can't use a stoplight either. At least it's harder for those people to kill me in a roundabout.
     

    Ingomike

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    Yes you have to be more attentive and assertive, but most of the time you can avoid stopping, which is huge.
    Among younger folks that don’t like roundabouts, when I drill down to their fundamental dislike, it is that they have to drive and do not have stops to be on their phones…
     

    bobzilla

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    Brownswhitanon.
    Biggest issue is they aren’t all laid out the same. Sone have moving lanes, sone have double lanes all around. That leads to confusion and assumptions that end up with trucks trying to move into a lane they ahojldnt be in etc.
     

    Timjoebillybob

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    Roundabouts as we know them today did not exist until the late 90’s. When they first wanted to try them they reached out to DOT for standards but they did not have any, so research was done and it was found that Australia had been creating standards so those standards were the beginning.

    So no we did not cover them in drivers ed…
    I believe the first roundabout in the US was in the 1990 in Vegas.
    The first thing the insurance company wants to know is your address and the address where you work, it is called community rating and the actuaries know the risks in every area and the costs of accidents in those areas. As I have been told by those in the industry head on collisions are the most costly accidents to cover, roundabouts do not have them often and when they do it is slow speeds. Roundabouts have a lot of low cost side swipes, so the accident numbers can be higher.

    In the case of Carmel it had 31 and 431 with high speed signalized control that were dangerous in the 80’s in addition to the normal stoplight accidents. Fishers will be getting better with the new 37…
    I don't believe I've ever been asked for the address of where I work for auto insurance. And yes head on are probably the most expensive, and yes roundabouts do have much lower numbers of them. But as I stated with modern cars even minor sideswipes or other minor accidents can cause serious damage. Not quite an apples to apples example but I hit a good size deer doing 50 mph in a 71 olds 98, only damage was to the grill. My BiL hit a opossum in a Prius and the damage was in the thousands and the car had to be towed. Another example was I had a late 70s LeSabre that a girlfriend drifted into a curb going around the corner and hit the gas trying to show off, only damage was a bent rim. A friend in a late 2000s car (forget the make) slid into a curb in the snow iirc damage was well over a grand and again it had to be towed where my car was driven home. Wife had a smaller Saturn and was hit in the front corner as lower speeds, not quite head on more of a sideswipe. Car was totaled.

    And as I stated I'm not opposed to roundabout.

    Not really going to work well because of growth, in the 90’s before roundabouts the population was under 20,000 and now over 100.000 so totally different situation…
    Carmel started putting in roundabouts in the late 90s, in 2000 the population was a bit over 50k. Should be a better method to compare pre roundabouts in Carmel to post roundabout Carmel by accidents per capital than comparing it to a nationwide average. And per capita by year correlated to the number of roundabouts.

    Biggest issue is they aren’t all laid out the same. Sone have moving lanes, sone have double lanes all around. That leads to confusion and assumptions that end up with trucks trying to move into a lane they ahojldnt be in etc.
    If you're referring to semis and such, they have the right of way in a roundabout, so if they are changing lanes...
    IC 9-21-8-10.5Right-of-way in a roundabout

    Sec. 10.5. (a) When approaching or driving through a roundabout, a person driving a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to the driver of a vehicle with a total length of at least forty (40) feet or a total width of at least ten (10) feet that is driving through the roundabout at the same time or so closely as to present an immediate hazard, and shall slow down or stop if necessary to yield. However, this subsection does not require a person who is driving a vehicle through a roundabout to yield the right-of-way to the driver of a vehicle with a total length of at least forty (40) feet or a total width of at least ten (10) feet that is approaching the roundabout.

    (b) If two (2) vehicles each having a total length of at least forty (40) feet or a total width of at least ten (10) feet approach or drive through a roundabout at the same time or so closely as to present an immediate hazard, the driver on the right shall yield the right-of-way to the driver on the left, and shall slow down or stop if necessary to yield.
     

    two70

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    6. Roundabouts with obstructions to your view so you can't see if there are other vehicles in or near the roundabout as you approach.
    It seems like they purposefully designed the round-abouts entering and exiting from I-69 in Martinsville with obstructed views.



    I'm generally a fan (especially the new one on 144 over I-69) but at the times of day when the geriatric crowd that thinks driving 45 MPH is Evel Kneivel level stuff is out, they might as well be stop signs.
     

    WebSnyper

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    I remember coming up to my 1st round about, my son was with me in his 20’s …. What the **** is that!? Holy crap, well it went ok but sure didn’t like it. But after a few of them they are ok now. I make sure I yield then after that if I gotta circle 3-4 times I’m the boss so stay clear.
    27138941.gif
     

    Ingomike

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    Biggest issue is they aren’t all laid out the same. Sone have moving lanes, sone have double lanes all around. That leads to confusion and assumptions that end up with trucks trying to move into a lane they ahojldnt be in etc.
    They are individually engineered to move the traffic at a particular intersection efficiently not to be homogeneous…
     

    Frosty

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    The first few times I had to navigate round abouts, I hated them, but I’ve since grown to love them, and wish they would use them more, especially near home. They just redid our road a couple years ago, it ends in a T intersection, would have been perfect but nope, just a three way stop that people can’t seem to figure out either.
    It would also alleviate some of the county’s asinine stop lights, turning red when no traffic is at the intersection, giving green turn signals to a lane that’s empty. Pretty freaking annoying when it is simple to fix.
     

    Timjoebillybob

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    The population site you posted is inaccurate not sure where they get their numbers. And the first roundabout in Carmel was in 1996.
    Per the Carmel website they started in the late 90s that's what I was going by.

    And the population varies widely depending on what website you check, lowest I've seen in 2000 is a bit under 38k highest is a bit over 60k. I still say comparing accidents/injuries/fatalities in Carmel pre and post roundabouts would be much more accurate than comparing it to the national average. Even better if it was done by year/% of roundabouts.

    I’ve seen several indicators that some people go straight through some roundabouts.
    View attachment 231553
    He did say most...
     

    two70

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    You mean, like a bridge? lol.
    Yes, they put the bridge abutments right up against the roads entering the round-abouts and the round-abouts right up next to the bridge. A little bit of setback on either one would have greatly improved visibility and safety.
     

    bobzilla

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    Brownswhitanon.
    They are individually engineered to move the traffic at a particular intersection efficiently not to be homogeneous…
    but that also leads to confusion. Y'all want to complain about the drivers when some are doing what the would do in another round about but this one is differen and all he lane markings showing that difference are gone.... There needs to be something familiar and homogenous or you will have confusion
     
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