The Zen of Roundabout Engineering
Two Approaches to Intersection Design
New York City:
Netherlands:
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2 Responses
The Dutch know that bad cycling and driving behavior is largely a symptom of a poorly designed roadway. By the way, engineers in the Netherlands are increasingly favoring multi-level roundabouts instead of this older design. The new system has been found to be the safest of all. Here is a video from the same Youtube user.
Corey, I have heard that before about the Dutch. And *some* engineers here will say similar things. Here in America, though, I think the common view among bicyclists and planners is either (a) American drivers are 'bad' or (b) the better behavior of drivers in places like the Netherlands is related to the "safety-in-numbers" effect.
To make the case that good engineering design is self-enforcing, it would be helpful to be able to point to examples where the overall context for a design is more similar to Delaware than the Netherlands. Are you aware of any studies that have tried to quantify bicyclist and motorist behavior before and after some bicycling-specific infrastructure was built?