John D’Agostino’s recent Editor’s corner on roundabouts got me thinking about roundabouts or as they are called in Massachusetts “rotaries.”

I want to begin with the admission that I absolutely hate those narrow paved circles no matter the soothing words state Department of Transportation highway engineers give us about how safe they are. I base this on the number of times I have been nearly blindsided by idiots driving north on Route 60 who have violated my right of way as I make the three-quarter circle from Route 60 to 20 heading to Silver Creek.

I first encountered roundabouts in Massachusetts while making the trip to Cape Cod and visits to my son and his family in Middleborough. Rotaries in those localities are of the older type and quite large with diameters of from 100 to 200 feet that allow for a rapid flow of both cars and trucks.

These older rotaries are criticized by some experts for having no rules causing drivers to become confused about yielding. Frankly I am not sure what they mean by that but in my experience the older roundabouts are safer than the smaller narrower modern ones because their very size allows more room to maneuver in, to make corrections and recover from errors.

The modern Massachusetts rotary like New York’s roundabouts generally have much smaller diameters causing traffic to move at much lower speeds. Highway engineers feel that lower speeds are safer but what they really do is increase driver impatience.

Traffic entering the Fredonia roundabout from the south on Route 60 is often backed up and it is all too common for those drivers to ignore right of way rules cutting off drivers already in the roundabout as has happened to me on numerous occasions.

A better design would have been the one used on the Seneca Nation Reservation where routes 5 and 20 come together. With a larger diameter traffic flows through it easily even in peak late afternoon hours.

My case against rotaries and roundabouts concerns confusion and accidents in high-traffic situations because of narrow lanes and tight turns. Further I have concerns about pedestrians and cyclists because traffic is always moving and vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians do not mix well. Then there are potential inefficiencies during periods of high traffic volumes particularly in the smaller new designs or when drivers may make unsafe merges into a circle of vehicles. 

Highway engineers tell us that the case for modern rotaries over the older rotaries and conventional intersections is based on their superior safety and efficiency. Modern roundabouts are said to significantly reduce fatalities and injuries by slowing traffic, minimizing conflict points, and providing clearer yield protocols. The climate change folks add that they also reduce idling time, which lowers vehicle emissions and fuel consumption although I suspect those figures could be insignificant. Also, globalists will be happy to know that the new cramped roundabouts were originally of European design.

As I alluded to previously I think the biggest problem with roundabouts is that a lot of drivers have little to no knowledge of the “rules of the road” for driving in roundabouts with some drivers seemingly making up their own rules.

Because it seems that while highway engineers at the Department of Transportation have been designing and building roundabouts they have done little to educate the driving public on how to navigate one. I Googled “New York State roundabout rules of the road.” Here is what I found on the DOT website.

Before entering the roundabout:

— Slow down and yield to pedestrians: Always look for and yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. 

— Look left: Traffic inside the roundabout is always to your left and has the right-of-way. 

— Find a gap: Wait for a large enough space between circulating vehicles to enter safely. 

While in the roundabout

— Follow the lane: Drive in a counterclockwise direction around the center island. 

— Use the correct path: If you entered from the left lane, proceed to the inside path. If you entered from the right, proceed to the right (outside) exit lane. 

— Signal your exit: Use your right turn signal as you pass the exit before the one you want to take. 

For bicyclists:

— You can ride in your lane: You can ride within the roundabout just like a car and follow the rules of the road. 

— You can walk your bike: You can also dismount and walk your bike as a pedestrian on the designated walkways. 

In the course of my search I discovered at NYSDOT home(.gov) the pdf version of a pamphlet titled “A Citizens Guide to Round Abouts” that can be downloaded and or printed. It explains what a roundabout is, why New York state is moving away from conventional intersections and perhaps most importantly how to navigate one of these things.

What I cannot understand is why this pamphlet has not been made more available to the public considering that the number of roundabouts is increasing.

Thomas Kirkpatrick is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com