Turboroundabouts (or turboroundabouts) are designed to regulate traffic in a conflictive area. The main difference with the traditional one: in each lane of a turbo roundabout the traffic is channeled towards different exits, in such a way that it is not possible to cover the entire square through the outer lane.
They also have similarities. The first, in both, the vehicle circulating inside has priority. Secondly, they seek to improve circulation on that road, although, paradoxically, they do not always succeed, as in the case of the turbo roundabout between highways 25 and 156, in San Benito county (USA).
Nothing has gotten better since this turbo roundabout was installed. Since it opened to the public, accidents have increased considerably. Since the end of last year, there have been three times more accidents than in the same period of the previous year. The positive part, there have been no deaths, according to ABC7 News.
“The data on the San Benito County turbotuna is worrying,” road safety specialist at the University of Calabria, Vincenzo Gallelli, told The Mercury News.
In his opinion, the “indecision of some drivers or the lack of prudence of others” could explain the high number of collisions, at an intersection that is not customary on American roads.
Experts believe that drivers need a little more time to adapt to this intersection, which is less common than others and which, in some cases, can generate more doubts. In statements to this medium, they maintain that accidents will decrease as drivers get used to the new road.
In this sense, the authorities have published several explanatory videos on how to circulate in this controversial turbo roundabout, an infrastructure that has cost 14.6 million dollars and that has been designed to “meet the immediate security needs at the intersection.”
