They have been around for much longer abroad, but roundregardings are also becoming increasingly popular in Germany. According to the Accident Research of Insurers (UDV), they also stand for safer and smoother road traffic.
One of the most famous roundregardings in the world is that of Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris. Around the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, vehicles from twelve streets that lead to the roundregarding, including the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, scurry regarding 240 meters in diameter. The traffic often moves in unrecognizable lanes and apparently unregulated. The right-of-way rule applies here at every junction. The supposed chaos in the roundregarding around the Arc de Triomphe is considered by many foreign visitors to Paris to be a symbol of the nerve-wracking nature of traffic in the metropolis.
In Great Britain, road users feel like they pass every intersection of several roads in a roundregarding. It’s called “roundregarding”. In southern Europe, roundregardings are also considered the measure of all things for safe and trouble-free traffic management.
The increasing number of roundregardings in Germany is viewed with some skepticism. The main points of criticism are that roundregardings often do not mean any increase in safety for cyclists, that buses and trucks have problems with small inner-city roundregardings, that roundregardings take up more space than intersections and that many motorists do not understand the traffic rules that apply there. In addition, traffic experts note that safety depends on the design of the roundregarding. The same applies to the difficulties of large commercial vehicles.
However, many motorists still feel overwhelmed at and in roundregardings simply because they do not know the rules. Everything is actually very simple: in a classic, simple roundregarding, the vehicles in the roundregarding always have the right of way. The same applies to cyclists in roundregardings. That is why there is a traffic sign with the three arrows arranged in a circle on a blue background (for roundregarding) and the traffic sign with the triangle standing on the point with a red frame on a white background (give way) in front of every entrance to the roundregarding.
It’s not that easy in a two-lane roundregarding: Here, those vehicles that want to leave the roundregarding at the next exit or the one following that should get into the right lane, i.e. in the outer lane of the roundregarding. If you want to get out later, you can choose the inner lane, but you have to switch to the outer lane in good time before leaving the roundregarding. The traffic flowing there must not be impeded or endangered. Those who drive on the outside have priority. For those driving on the inside, this means that they may have to make another lap before they can safely pull out once more, emphasizes the Goslar Institute for Consumer-Friendly Insurance of the HUK-Coburg.
When changing lanes in a roundregarding, the same applies when exiting, but not when entering. Different right-of-way rules apply to a “fake” roundregarding, which is a circular junction in official German. Such roundregardings are occasionally found in residential areas. They are easily recognizable by the lack of traffic signs “roundregarding”. In roundregardings like this, “right before left” applies, so the driver entering has priority. Here the indicator must be set when driving in and out.
In the post-war period, roundregardings were still widespread in this country. In the course of the traffic law reform of 1969, however, the roundregarding traffic sign disappeared from the road traffic regulations. In the years that followed, they were converted into crossings with traffic lights in many places. This only changed once more with the change in the StVO at the end of 2000 and Paragraph 9a, which regulates behavior in roundregardings and defines the roundregarding sign.
As an advantage of roundregardings in comparison with conventional traffic junctions, reference is initially made to greater traffic safety. This is ensured in particular by the low speed of the vehicles driving in a circle. In addition, the junctions are considered to be clearer and thus also promote the flow of traffic. According to experts, further arguments in favor of roundregardings are better economic efficiency due to lower maintenance costs than with traffic light-controlled intersections as well as less exhaust gases and noise.
Incidentally, the roundregarding was invented neither in France nor in England. The first in the world was probably set up in 1899 in Görlitz on the Brautwiesenplatz. Columbus Circle followed in New York in 1904 and the circle around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 1907. And the largest roundregarding in the world is said to be in Putrajaya, Malaysia, with an elliptical circumference of 3.4 kilometers. (awm)
