Safe design of roundabouts on rural roads
Roundabouts outside built-up areas have a high level of road safety compared to junctions with and without traffic lights. However, a high proportion of driving accidents, especially in the dark, suggests that the safety potential of roundabouts on rural roads has not yet been exhausted. BASt therefore commissioned the Chair of Integrated Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering at the TU Dresden to investigate how the road safety of these roundabouts can be further increased. With special consideration of visibility at night, the requirements for optimised recognisability of rural roundabouts were to be determined. The study was able to identify accident-promoting factors and make design recommendations to further increase safety at roundabouts on rural roads. This mainly concerns the design of the approach area, the access road and the lane divider as well as the lighting. Based on the results, text modules could be formulated that are to be used for updating the regulations.