PennDOT: Drivers must signal in roundabouts
In this file photo, drivers move cautiously through the first portion of the roundabout that was constructed at Route 519, Thomas-Eighty Four Road and Brownlee Road in North Strabane Township.
A screen shot of the passage about roundabouts in the latest PennDOT Driver’s Manual
Roundabouts are a relatively new phenomenon in Southwestern Pennsylvania, with the newest being the double roundabout on Route 519 in North Strabane Township. Yet if drivers get a ticket for not using proper signals, not knowing about the safety law wouldn’t be a valid excuse.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation makes it clear in its latest edition of “Publication 95,” or the Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual. On Page 49 in Chapter Three, it reads – typos aside – that as a driver approaches an exit, “use you RIGHT TURN SIGNAL.”
Those capital letters are there to plainly read, but many might not be thinking about it while driving on the road. Signaling out of a circular intersection is not exactly second nature to Pennsylvania drivers.
“It’s a circular intersection, but it’s still an intersection,” said PennDOT safety officer Jay Ofsanik, “And there is no rule or regulation about signaling upon entering the roundabout, because everyone is going the same way. But for all roundabouts, and especially if it’s a four-legged branching exit, that signal is crucial to let drivers know when you’re exiting and for outside cars and drivers immediately behind you to give them a warning.”
Ofsanik said he has not recorded any uptick in roundabout-related accidents or complaints. In North Strabane where the double roundabout is situated, traffic Officer Matt Schmeltz said he’s more worried about larger vehicles and proper yielding.
“It’s been no different than any other intersection in the township. We have, however, been paying more attention to the roads leading up to it during school hours. The only two real accidents we’ve had there have been in the past three months with a tractor-trailer wrecking and a shorter school bus getting into a fender-bender. So it’s the larger vehicles we’re worried about, if anything,” Schmeltz said.
As for ticketing for not using signals, Schmeltz said he looks for it mostly when vehicles are turning onto Brownlee Road out of the roundabout.
“It’s a practical thing. Because you’re not truly turning away from the road. But that is a turn I watch and worry about. We have more failure to yields than anything, but it’s worked out kind of in its own favor. People are treating the yield as a true stop, and it’s actually cut down on accidents compared to other areas,” Schmeltz said.