Roundabouts help conserve on gasoline

Published 1:06 pm Monday, September 8, 2008

By Staff
If you've been to the airport lately in South Bend, Ind., you know what roundabouts are like, even if you still wonder why it was installed.
If you've driven as far as Indianapolis, suburban Carmel, Ind., has built 50 of these circular alternatives to dangerous street intersections that are much more popular elsewhere than around here.
Roundabouts lack stop signals and force cars to drive through a crossroads more slowly.
Since 2001, Carmel has seen a 78-percent drop in accidents involving injuries.
Another thing about roundabouts is that they save fuel since vehicles don't idle.
Carmel saves 24,000 gallons of gas annually per roundabout, for which it received a climate protection award this year from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Virginia's 10 roundabouts are thought to save 200,000 gallons of gasoline annually.
No wonder they've always been popular in Europe, where traffic is much denser.
France alone has 30,000 – almost a third of the world's total.
Some 1,000 roundabouts have been built in 25 states, the Sept. 15 Time magazine reports.
A Kansas State University study concluded they were responsible for a 65-percent average drop in vehicular delays in Kansas.
They're simple to navigate – cars yield to those already inside – but intimidate drivers unaccustomed to them.
In fact, the heightened anxiety of encountering a roundabout itself makes motorists drive more carefully.
They slow down, which further helps reduce mishaps.
There are no traffic lights to distract drivers, so they can focus on other vehicles and pedestrians.
All vehicles travel in the same direction, eliminating head-ons as well as left turns – one of the most dangerous actions in any intersection.