Roundabouts are good for the planet. Why don’t we see more in America?

Traffic roundabouts are common in Europe, Australia, and much of the developed world, but less so in the United States.
That’s not good enough for Kevin Beresford, chair of the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society, who says they are safe, cheap to maintain, and can even help save the planet.
And the science backs him up.
Researchers have found that replacing traffic light intersections with roundabouts can reduce polluting emissions by up to 45%.
A few years ago, the U.S. city of Carmel, Indiana, was awarded ‘International Roundabout of the Year’ by Beresford’s group. City officials say they’ve turned nearly all their grey intersections green, and reduced the city’s carbon footprint in the process.
We visited the UK’s oldest roundabout to find out more.
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[@traffic.engineer]

America has very strict guidelines and criteria for installing roundabout. Traffic volumes and peak hour flow disqualifies many locations for roundabouts, along with right-of-way amd construction costs. They fail in heavily urbanized environments but are tremendously beneficial in rural and suburban locations.

[@Context_news]

Hi, this is Fintan, the producer of this video. Have you had any intersections in your town change from traffic lights to roundabouts? What difference did it make to you? Let us know in the comments, and thanks for watching.

[@BenStroud]

Love this video

[@miles5600]

roundabouts aren't good to be installed at every intersection or to replace all traffic signals. look at The Netherlands where they instead raised intersection and made them much safer.

[@MnemonicKariboo]

The only real argument against roundabouts I have heard is that they tend to make oversized transports (like i. e. a wind turbine blade) a lot more difficult. Many roundabouts are not level with the street around them and/or have statues and the like on them. That makes it hellish to navigate through without damaging either the roundabout itself or the piece of equipment you are transporting. What are your views on that?

[@Context_news]

Hi there, Fintan here. Good question! I learned that some roundabouts in less urban areas could alter their designs to suit transport vehicles better - like making them more level with the road, for example. Here's a study from the US Federal Highway Administration you might find interesting: safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/roundabouts/fhwasa14013.pdf

[@DoubtingThomas333]

Take it slow, and expect other road users to use their brains and give these transport vehicles plenty of time and space to get through them. Simple.

[@Matijab.]

The only problem on those tiny roundabouts is - how did buses and trucks are going through without scratching the roundabout apron? If you know how to figure it out tell me

[@dillon17]

I mean, I dont know what you mean to be fully honest... I have lived in Spain my entire life, and we have roundabouts everywhere, and buses and trucks, circulate round them with 0 issues at all, they never scrape or scratch the apron here in Spain, so for me that's never been a issue at all... If I am honest, ive been around roundabouts my entire life, and they work flawlessly with any vehicle, so to my brain I just am Not sure how they would scrape at all.....

[@Matijab.]

@@dillon17 yeah but this tiny... Or It's bcs I'm from wrong country. Here in Montenegro we're raising It number but they're huge so big vehicles can move

[@traffic.engineer]

Mini-roundabouts are for residential streets only. Not for arterial roads. Big trucks need properly sized roundabouts, which work greatly in farmland areas.