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Can you see the pedestrian who's stepped off the opposite corner into the roadway?[/caption]
I was still mulling over my traffic calming post when I saw my friend Andrew. He drives a Dodge Ram pickup truck, with big wheels, and which is much higher off the ground than your average little Nissan Jelly Belly. So I put it to him -- had he ever been tempted to ignore a traffic diverter, and just drive over it? "No!" he said emphatically, and I believed him. He might think the law is an ass but he'll still obey it. That's how he is. And in this case, he did think the law was an ass. Right off the bat he asked a good question about traffic circles, and I paraphrase -- for the children:
If they're going to do that, he continued, they should keep the plants trimmed to a proper height. He went on to say that even the four large, tall, traffic direction signs around the perimeter of the circle contributed to blocking a driver's view.
He believed the practice of sticking vegetation in the center of a traffic circle was dangerous, and increased the risk of collisions, particularly between motor vehicles and pedestrians, and cyclists.
I think he makes a good point. The greening of traffic circles is a relatively recent practice isn't it? I think even the direction signs are a late addition. My thinking is that the greenery is meant to accomplish two things: make the circles objects of neighbourhood pride, and make the existence and diameter of the circles more obvious, to reduce the likelihood of drivers accidentally driving into, onto, and over them. But none of this should come at the expense of visibility.
The designers of these things are well-aware of the importance of guarding against blind spots. From Page 7 of the B.C. Ministry of Transport's Supplement to TAC Geometric Design Guide from 2007:
In the case of the traffic circle shown at the top, the vegetation isn't the problem, it's the large turning direction signs. However, the vegetation in the centre of the traffic circle shown below could become a growing problem. Isn't that a young tree? Click the images to enlarge them.
Can you see the pedestrian who's stepped off the opposite corner into the roadway?[/caption]I was still mulling over my traffic calming post when I saw my friend Andrew. He drives a Dodge Ram pickup truck, with big wheels, and which is much higher off the ground than your average little Nissan Jelly Belly. So I put it to him -- had he ever been tempted to ignore a traffic diverter, and just drive over it? "No!" he said emphatically, and I believed him. He might think the law is an ass but he'll still obey it. That's how he is. And in this case, he did think the law was an ass. Right off the bat he asked a good question about traffic circles, and I paraphrase -- for the children:
What idiot had the idea of planting shrubs and trees that can block a driver's view of the intersection?
If they're going to do that, he continued, they should keep the plants trimmed to a proper height. He went on to say that even the four large, tall, traffic direction signs around the perimeter of the circle contributed to blocking a driver's view.
He believed the practice of sticking vegetation in the center of a traffic circle was dangerous, and increased the risk of collisions, particularly between motor vehicles and pedestrians, and cyclists.
I think he makes a good point. The greening of traffic circles is a relatively recent practice isn't it? I think even the direction signs are a late addition. My thinking is that the greenery is meant to accomplish two things: make the circles objects of neighbourhood pride, and make the existence and diameter of the circles more obvious, to reduce the likelihood of drivers accidentally driving into, onto, and over them. But none of this should come at the expense of visibility.
The designers of these things are well-aware of the importance of guarding against blind spots. From Page 7 of the B.C. Ministry of Transport's Supplement to TAC Geometric Design Guide from 2007:
"Pedestrian safety is paramount at roundabouts; therefore, landscape vegetation must be positioned so that sight lines to the pedestrians are maintained."
In the case of the traffic circle shown at the top, the vegetation isn't the problem, it's the large turning direction signs. However, the vegetation in the centre of the traffic circle shown below could become a growing problem. Isn't that a young tree? Click the images to enlarge them.
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